SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR CLUSTER-BASED ECONOMIC DEVEL-
OPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Public Works and 
Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 219. GRANTS FOR CLUSTER-BASED ECONOMIC DE-
VELOPMENT. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 
definitions apply: 
‘‘(1) CLUSTER.—The term ‘cluster’ means a ge-
ographic concentration of business entities that— 
‘‘(A) are competing, complementary, or 
interdependent firms and industries; 
‘‘(B) do business with one another; and 
‘‘(C) have common needs for talent, tech-
nology, and infrastructure. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘eligible 
applicant’ means— 
‘‘(A) a State or local government; 
‘‘(B) an institution of higher education; or 
‘‘(C) a nonprofit economic development or-
ganization. 
‘‘(3) REGION.—The term ‘region’ means any of 
the following regions, if on the date of submission of 
an application for a grant under this section the re-
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gion meets one or more of the criteria described in 
section 301(a): 
‘‘(A) The Delta Region, as described in 
section 382A(2) of the Consolidated Farm and 
Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2009aa(2)). 
‘‘(B) The Northern Great Plains Region, 
as described in section 383A(4) of the Consoli-
dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 
U.S.C. 2009bb(4)). 
‘‘(C) The Southeast Crescent Region, as 
described in section 15731 of title 40, United 
States Code. 
‘‘(D) The Southwest Border Region, as de-
scribed in section 15732 of title 40, United 
States Code. 
‘‘(E) The Northern Border Region, as de-
scribed in section 15733 of title 40, United 
States Code. 
‘‘(F) The Appalachian Region, as de-
scribed in section 14102 of title 40, United 
States Code. 
‘‘(G) Such other region as the Secretary 
determines appropriate. 
‘‘(b) BLOCK GRANTS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On the application of an el-
igible applicant, the Secretary may make a block 
grant to the applicant— 
‘‘(A) to assess the potential for the devel-
opment of clusters and the enhancement of ex-
isting clusters in a region; 
‘‘(B) to establish cluster development pro-
grams in a region; and 
‘‘(C) to promote cluster development pro-
grams in a region and support the staff who op-
erate such programs. 
‘‘(2) USE OF GRANTS.—A recipient of grant 
funds under this subsection may use the funds to 
provide assistance for startup costs, worker training, 
relocation costs, planning, and other projects identi-
fied by the recipient that are consistent with the 
purposes of this section. 
‘‘(c) COST SHARING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the 
cost of a project carried out using funds made avail-
able under this section shall be 50 percent. 
‘‘(2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—Not more than 
50 percent of the non-Federal share of the cost of 
a project carried out using funds made available 
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under this section may be provided through in-kind 
contributions. 
‘‘(3) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN SECTION.— 
Section 204 shall not apply to this section. 
‘‘(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit 
to Congress reports on the results of the program 
established under this section. 
‘‘(2) FREQUENCY OF REPORTS.—The Secretary 
shall submit a report under this subsection annually 
for the first 4 years of the program and biennially 
thereafter. 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$50,000,000. Such sums shall remain available until ex-
pended.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents contained in section 1(b) of the Public Works and 
Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 
note) is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 218 the following: 
‘‘Sec. 219. Grants for cluster-based economic development.’’. 
Æ 
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