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First Priority? The Neglect Of Rural Development By Federal Agencies, And How Arkansas Could Respond, Steve Sheppard

Steve Sheppard

Rural areas are given first priority as prospective locations for new federal facilities pursuant to the Rural Development Act (“RDA”), which requires federal agencies to adopt policies that give first priority to rural areas when setting up facilities in new locations. While Congress has demanded this development scheme for the benefit of rural areas, few federal agencies have conformed to it. The term “rural area” is defined under § 343(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, which specifies a rural area is not a city or town that has a population of more than 50,000, or an urbanized …