Under this program the Federal government has designated 57 rural areas as EZs and ECs. These communities meet certain poverty and distress criteria and have prepared creative strategic plans for revitalization. All designations were made in consultation with the Community Empowerment Board, which the President established on September 9, 1993. For the purposes of this program, Round I refers to those EZs and ECs designated in 1994 and Round II refers to those designated in 1998. Empowerment Zones are eligible for private activity tax exempt bonding authority for qualifying enterprises and facilities.
Bond issues are subject to State private activity bond caps and special limits on issue size.
Round I Empowerment Zones are eligible for employer wage credits, with a phase out beginning in year 2005. Empowerment Zones are eligible for accelerated Section 179 expensing for eligible property. Certain environmental remediation expenditures for cleaning up sites in enterprise communities may be deducted in the year incurred by taxpayers, where those expenses would ordinarily be capitalized and depreciated over time. The benefits described above may or may not be all-inclusive. They receive special consideration in competition for funding under numerous Federal programs, including the National Service and Community Policing initiatives.