(1) The director may not designate an area as a community empowerment zone unless that area meets the following requirements:

(a) The area must be designated by the legislative authority of the local government as an area to receive federal, state, and local assistance designed to increase economic, physical, or social activity in the area;

(b) The area must have at least fifty-one percent of the households in the area with incomes at or below eighty percent of the county's median income, adjusted for household size;

(c) The average unemployment rate for the area, for the most recent twelve-month period for which data is available must be at least one hundred twenty percent of the average unemployment rate of the county; and

(d) A five-year community empowerment plan for the area that meets the requirements of RCW 43.31C.040 must be adopted.

(2) The director may establish, by rule, such other requirements as the director may reasonably determine necessary and appropriate to assure that the purposes of this chapter are satisfied.

(3) In determining if an area meets the requirements of this section, the director may consider data provided by the United States bureau of the census from the most recent census or any other reliable data that the director determines to be acceptable for the purposes for which the data is used.

Finding—Intent—Severability—1994 sp.s. c 7: See notes following RCW 43.70.540.

Severability—Effective dates—Part headings, captions not law—1993 sp.s. c 25: See notes following RCW 82.04.230.