Annual reassessment of population threshold for rural areas

The Secretary of Agriculture shall annually reassess and, if necessary, adjust the numerical threshold used in determining whether an area is a rural area for purposes of the provisions of law amended by this Act, taking into account population level and density trends identified by the Bureau of the Census, the classification of areas as metropolitan or non-metropolitan by the Office of Management and Budget, and, as appropriate, Rural-Urban Commuting Area codes of the Economic Research Service, and in doing so, may take account of regional differences.