(a) “Applicant” means the individual or entity utilizing the GO-Biz TEA Interactive Tool to request a TEA certification letter, including, but not limited to, an immigrant seeking an EB-5 visa, an economic development center, a regional center, or a law firm representing such an immigrant or commercial enterprise.

(b) “Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program” means the process used to review and suggest modifications to the boundaries for block groups, census tracts, census county divisions, and census designated places for reporting data from the decennial census.

(c) “Census tracts” means relatively permanent statistical subdivisions of a county or equivalent entity that are updated by local participants prior to each decennial census as part of the Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program.

(d) “Commercial enterprise” means any for-profit activity formed for the ongoing conduct of lawful business including, but not limited to:

(e) “Contiguous census tract” means a census track that is either directly adjacent to the census tract where the project is located or, is adjacent to a census tract that is part of a contiguous area of census tracts that includes the project location. Intervening bodies of water separating census tracts do not necessarily prevent two census tracts from being adjacent.

(f) “EB-5 Program” means the Foreign Investment Program set forth under Section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act under 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1153(b)(5).

(g) “GO-Biz TEA Interactive Tool” means the online mapping tool on the GO-Biz website designed to:

(h) “GO-Biz” means the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.

(i) “New commercial enterprise” means any commercial enterprise:

(j) “Project” means the new commercial enterprise that will receive the foreign investment within the parameters of the EB-5 program.

(k) “Qualifying cities, Census Designated Places (“CDPs”), and Metropolitan Statistical Areas (“MSAs”)” means cities, CDPs, and the MSAs (as designated by the federal Office of Management and Budget), eligible for the TEA certification by meeting the unemployment rate threshold (at least 150 percent of the national average rate). To determine if the qualifying city, CDP, or MSA meets the unemployment rate threshold, the unemployment rate determined by the California Employment Development Department at www.edd.ca.gov shall be used.

(l) “Regional center” means any public or private corporation as described in Government Code Section 6315.2.

(m) “Request” means the application to obtain a TEA certification made by an applicant to GO-Biz, which shall be submitted by utilizing the GO-Biz TEA Interactive Tool on GO-Biz's EB-5 Program website.

(n) “Rural area” means any area other than an area within a metropolitan statistical area or within the outer boundary of any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more based on the most recent decennial census as set forth under 8 U.S.C. Section 1153(b)(5)(B)(iii).

(o) “Supporting letter” means a letter from a city, county, or regional or local economic development organization concurring that the proposed census tract(s) will reasonably be a source of workforce for the project.

(p) “Special TEA” means the census tract of a project does not meet the existing standard, pre-calculated certification categories as a TEA, but the project is located within an area of twelve or fewer contiguous census tracts with a total average unemployment rate of at least 150% the national average rate.

(q) “Targeted Employment Area” or “TEA” means, at the time of investment, a rural area or an area which has experienced high unemployment of at least 150 percent of the national average rate as set forth under 8 U.S.C. Section 1153(b)(5)(B)(ii).

(r) “TEA certification” means the certification verifying that the commercial enterprise(s) is either made in a TEA, or is qualified to be in a Special TEA.

(s) “TEA certification letter” means a customized letter issued by GO-Biz verifying that a project is located in a designated TEA or Special TEA.

(t) “USCIS” means the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service.