§ 958 — Criteria for empire zone designation

§ 958. Criteria for empire zone designation. (a) To be eligible for\ndesignation as an empire zone, an area must be characterized by\npervasive poverty, high unemployment and general economic distress, must\ncorrespond to traditional neighborhood or community boundaries, and\nwhere appropriate, be bounded by major natural or man-made physical\nboundaries, such as bodies of water, railroad lines, or limited access\nhighways; and must meet the following requirements:\n (i) the area shall include a United States census tract or tracts or\nblock numbering area or areas, or portions thereof, each full census\ntract or portion of a block numbering area of which, according to the\nmost recent census data available, has:\n (A) a poverty rate of at least twenty percent for the year to which\nthe data relate;\n (B) an unemployment rate of at least 1.25 times the statewide\nunemployment rate for the year to which the data relate; and\n (C) a population of at least two thousand.\n (ii) lands nearby or contiguous to census tracts or block numbering\nareas described in paragraph (i) of this subdivision may be eligible to\nbe included within an empire zone if, upon the request of the applicant,\nthe commissioner finds, in accordance with regulations promulgated\npursuant to this article, that such additional lands have significant\npotential for business development and job creation, which will enhance\neconomic revitalization of the zone and benefit zone residents;\nprovided, however, that lands nearby shall not be included in a zone\nuntil the commissioner, in consultation with the director of the budget,\npromulgates regulations governing the inclusion of such lands;\n (iii) the area proposed as an empire zone shall not exceed:\n two square miles for any zone, such area shall be defined by one or\nmore borders, which borders shall be determined by the applicant and\nneed not be entirely coterminous with the borders of census tracts or\nblock numbering areas provided, however, that such zone shall be located\nentirely within traditional neighborhood or community boundaries, and\nwhere appropriate, be bounded by major natural or man-made physical\nboundaries, such as bodies of water, railroad lines, or limited access\nhighways, and the zones created pursuant to paragraph (viii) of\nsubdivision (b) of section nine hundred sixty of this article should be\nlimited to one square mile; provided however, empire zones designated\nunder subdivision (b) of section nine hundred sixty of this article may\napply to increase their distinct and separate contiguous areas to two\nsquare miles; provided further, regionally significant projects are not\nincluded within such two square mile limitation;\n (iv) if such area is governed by zoning laws or other laws or\nregulations governing land use, such laws or regulations must allow at\nleast twenty-five percent of such area to be used for commercial or\nindustrial activity;\n (v) at least twenty-five percent of the total land within such area\nmust be vacant, abandoned or otherwise available for industrial or\ncommercial development or redevelopment; and\n (vi) such other requirements as may be established in regulations\npromulgated by the commissioner with the approval of the director of the\nbudget and after consultation with the commissioner of labor, including\nbut not limited to:\n (A) a comprehensive demonstration of chronic and severe economic\ndistress and the reasons therefor as evidenced by population and\nemployment decline, increase in unemployment and public assistance\nrecipients, decline in real property values, relative decline in per\ncapita income, the extent of abandoned property and deteriorated\nindustrial, commercial and residential properties, a decline in the\nnumber of business establishments, obsolescence in plant capacity, loss\nof markets to foreign competition, the unavailability of expansion\nfinancing, poor access to markets, the retirement of local owners of\ncompanies;\n (B) a demonstration of the potential of the area to attract private\ninvestment that will provide employment to persons in the area who are\nunemployed or economically disadvantaged;\n (C) a demonstration of substantial public and private commitments to a\nlong-term economic revitalization program for the area and the local\ncapacity to manage such a program;\n (D) a demonstration of the manner in which the overall economic\ndevelopment plan enunciates the needs of the area and sets forth\nproposals to solve them; and\n (E) a demonstration of the manner in which progress in implementing\nthe zone development plan will be routinely evaluated on the local level\nand how information essential for periodic evaluations will be compiled.\n Such regulations may require a demonstration of a decline in\npopulation, a decline in employment, an increase in unemployment, a\ndecline in real property values, a relative decline in per capita\nincome, the extent of abandoned property and deteriorated industrial,\ncommercial and residential property, a decline in the number of business\nestablishments, and other indicators of severe economic distress.\n (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (i) of subdivision (a)\nof this section, any county in which the average rate of unemployment in\nthe two most recent calendar years was at least one and one-quarter\ntimes the state average for those years and in which the rate of poverty\nfor individuals was at least thirteen percent according to the most\nrecent census data available, and which does not contain a census tract\nor tracts, portion of a block numbering area or a city, town or village\nwhich meets the criteria specified in such paragraph (i) of subdivision\n(a), may apply for designation of an area within a municipality as an\nempire zone. The area proposed for designation shall be characterized by\npervasive poverty, high unemployment and general economic distress.\n (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (i) of subdivision (a)\nof this section, any county may apply for designation of an area within\na municipality as an empire zone provided that the following\nrequirements are met:\n (i) at the time of application, the unemployment rate of the\nmetropolitan statistical area must exceed the national average of\nunemployment and the metropolitan statistical area must have experienced\nor is likely to experience within three years the lesser of a loss of\nfour thousand direct jobs or a dislocation of workers equal to one-half\npercent of the employed population of the metropolitan statistical area\nand at least fifty percent of the job loss or dislocation of workers\nmust result from the action of a single employer, or eighty percent of\nsuch job loss or dislocation must occur in a single standard industry\nclassification (two digit code); or\n (ii) at the time of application, the unemployment rate of the\nmetropolitan statistical area must be equal to or less than the national\naverage of unemployment and the metropolitan statistical area must have\nexperienced or is likely to experience within three years the lesser of\na loss of eight thousand direct jobs or a dislocation of workers equal\nto one percent of the employed population of the metropolitan\nstatistical area and at least fifty percent of the job loss or\ndislocation of workers must result from the action of a single employer,\nor eighty percent of such job loss or dislocation must occur in a single\nstandard industry classification (two digit code); or\n (iii) at the time of application, the unemployment rate of the labor\nmarket area must exceed the national average of unemployment and the\nlabor market area must have experienced or is likely to experience\nwithin three years the lesser of a loss of five hundred direct jobs or a\ndislocation of workers equal to two percent of the employed population\nof the labor market area; or\n (iv) at the time of application, the unemployment rate of the labor\nmarket area must be equal to or less than the national average of\nunemployment and the labor market area must have experienced or is\nlikely to experience within three years the lesser of a loss of one\nthousand direct jobs or a dislocation of workers equal to four percent\nof the employed population of the labor market area; or\n (v) at the time of application, the municipality is declared a natural\ndisaster area by the president of the United States; or\n (vi) at the time of application, the municipality contains:\n (A) a defense or military base or facility which has been designated\nfor closure or realignment; or\n (B) a state-operated hospital or facility listed in section 7.17 or\n13.17 of the mental hygiene law, or a facility operated by the office\nfor people with developmental disabilities, that has been designated by\neither the commissioner of mental health or the commissioner of\ndevelopmental disabilities for contraction or discontinuance. Provided\nhowever, that not more than one-third of the zones designated pursuant\nto paragraph (iii) or (iv) of subdivision (b) of section nine hundred\nsixty of this article, shall be based on applications filed pursuant to\nthis paragraph.\n (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (i) of subdivision (a)\nof this section, any municipality may apply for designation as an empire\nzone for an area which shall include a United States census tract or\ntracts or block numbering area or areas or portions thereof, each full\ncensus tract or portion of a block numbering area of which according to\nthe most recent census data available has:\n (i) at the time of application, an unemployment rate equal to or\nexceeding the unemployment rate of the state of New York;\n (ii) a rate of poverty for individuals of at least twenty percent;\n (iii) a number of households receiving public assistance of fourteen\npercent or more;\n (iv) the municipality is considered a non-metropolitan area; and\n (v) there is no other empire zone in the county in which designation\nis sought.\n (e) The empire zones designation board may accept from an applicant\nseeking designation any data in lieu of census data supporting such\napplication as the commissioner deems to be reliable.\n (f) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a), (b), (c) and (d) of this section\nor any other provision of this article, the following counties are\ndeemed eligible to receive empire zone designation pursuant to\nsubdivisions (b) and (c) of this section: Delaware; Greene; Hamilton;\nLivingston; Nassau; Putnam; Rockland; Schoharie; Tompkins; Wyoming; and\nYates. New York county in the vicinity south of East Houston Street,\neast of Broadway, west of the East River, and north of Chambers Street\nand the Brooklyn Bridge, in an area commonly known as Chinatown, shall\nbe deemed eligible to receive empire zone designation pursuant to\nsubdivisions (a) and (d) of this section.\n (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, after March\nthirty-first, two thousand five, a municipality shall demonstrate in an\napplication for designation as an empire zone, that there is no viable\nalternative area or areas that has or have existing public sewer or\nwater infrastructure available other than the proposed zone.\n