Appalachian Regional Commission

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The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) was established by Congress in 1965 to support economic and social development in the Appalachian Region. Appalachia is a 200,000-square-mile region from the spine of the Appalachian Mountains in Southern New York to Northern Mississippi. The ARC program's region includes parts of 13 states; all of West Virginia and parts of twelve other states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

The Appalachian Regional Commission does not have authority to write implementation grants directly. Therefore it grants moneys through other Federal agencies, such as HUD. These agencies act as an administering agency for Appalachian Regional Commission projects. On the average about 10 million dollars of ARC projects are assigned to HUD each year. The majority but not all are carried out under the State CDBG Program. (The balance are carried out under the CDBG Entitlement Program.) In order for HUD to administer funding for an ARC project, the project must meet all CDBG program requirements.

Projects receiving ARC funding through HUD are initiated by state agencies designated by a state's Governor; state-requested projects are approved for funding by ARC. The CDBG program serves as the vehicle to transfer funds to states or local government for approved projects, but HUD plays no role in the initiation or selection of projects for ARC funding.

The ARC state administering agency in NY is the NY State Department of State, Division of Local Government. All others are the State CDBG administering agency.