For each planning and service area there shall be an area agency designated by the department in accordance with the Federal Older Americans Act of 1965,¹ as amended, to serve as a focal point in the community for the coordination of services for older people and for the issues and concerns of aging. An area agency so designated must be (i) an established office of aging; (ii) any office or agency of the unit of general purpose local government, which is designated for this purpose by the chief elected officials of the unit of general purpose local government; (iii) any office or agency designated by the chief elected officials of a combination of units of general purpose local government to act on behalf of such combination for this purpose; or (iv) any public or nonprofit private agency in a planning and service area which is under the supervision or direction for this purpose of the designated State agency and which can engage in the planning or provision of a broad range of social services within such planning and service area; and must provide assurance, found adequate by the department, that it will have the ability to develop and administer an area plan. The secretary may redesignate or designate new area agencies based on established regulations. Such regulations shall include criteria of efficiencies, appropriateness and equity and shall provide for public hearings on redesignation conducted in the affected planning and service areas. Any such determinations of redesignation shall be executed not less than one hundred days prior to the beginning of the fiscal year of the local authority. A designation or redesignation may occur when changes are made in established planning and service area boundaries, when a currently designated area agency is unable or unwilling to continue as the area agency, when removal of an area agency designation is requested by the local authority with cause shown or when the department determines that a currently designated area agency is incapable of carrying out its approved area plan. The removal of an area agency designation and the designation of a new area agency shall be carried out under regulations promulgated by the department and consistent with the Federal Older Americans Act of 1965. For the purpose of this section, the term “local authority” shall mean county commissioners or county council.