§ 15-4-2208 - Local workforce investment areas. - Arkansas Statutes

15-4-2208. Local workforce investment areas.

(a) No later than September 30, 1999, the Governor shall designate local workforce investment areas within the state:

(1) Through consultation with the Arkansas Workforce Investment Board; and

(2) After consultation with chief elected officials and after consideration of comments received through the public comment process, as described in section 112(b)(9) of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

(b) In making the designation of local areas, the Governor shall take into consideration the following:

(1) Geographic areas served by local educational agencies and intermediate educational agencies;

(2) Geographic areas served by postsecondary educational institutions and area vocational education schools;

(3) The extent to which the local areas are consistent with labor market areas;

(4) The distance that individuals will need to travel to receive services provided in the local areas; and

(5) The resources of the local areas that are available to effectively administer the activities carried out under this subchapter.

(c) The Governor shall approve any request for designation as a local area:

(1) From any unit of general local government with a population of five hundred thousand (500,000) or more;

(2) Of the area served by a rural concentrated employment program grant recipient of demonstrated effectiveness that served as a service delivery area or substate area under the Job Training Partnership Act, if the grant recipient has submitted the request; and

(3) Of an area that served as a service delivery area under section 101(a)(4)(A)(ii) of the Job Training Partnership Act as effective on September 1, 1999, in a state that has a population of not more than one million one hundred thousand (1,100,000) and a population density greater than nine hundred (900) persons per square mile.

(d) (1) The Governor shall approve any request made not later than the date of submission of the initial state plan under this subchapter for temporary designation as a local area from any unit of general local government, including a combination of the units, with a population of two hundred thousand (200,000) or more that was a service delivery area under the Job Training Partnership Act as effective on September 1, 1999, if the Governor determines that the area:

(A) Performed successfully in each of the last two (2) years prior to the request for which data are available in the delivery of services to participants under part A of title II and title III of the Job Training Partnership Act as effective on September 1, 1999; and

(B) Has sustained the fiscal integrity of the funds used by the area to carry out the activities.

(2) A temporary designation shall be for a period of not more than two (2) years, after which the designation shall be extended until the end of the period covered by the state plan if the Governor determines that, during the temporary designation period, the area substantially met the local performance measures for the local area and sustained the fiscal integrity of the funds used by the area to carry out activities under this subchapter.

(e) The Governor may approve a request from any unit of general local government for designation as a local area if the board, after consultation with and agreement of the local chief elected officials, recommends to the Governor that the area should be so designated.

(f) A unit of general local government or grant recipient that requests but is not granted designation of an area as a local area may submit an appeal to the board under an appeal process established in the state plan. If the appeal does not result in the designation, the United States Secretary of Labor, after receiving a request for review from the unit or grant recipient and on determining that the unit or grant recipient was not accorded procedural rights under the appeal process established in the state plan or that the area meets the requirements of this section, may require that the area be designated as a local area.