The Office of Economic Impact and Diversity develops and executes Department-wide policies to implement applicable legislation and Executive Orders that strengthen diversity goals affecting equal employment opportunities, small and disadvantaged businesses, minority educational institutions, and historically underrepresented communities. Our mission is to identify and implement ways of ensuring that minorities are afforded an opportunity to participate fully in the energy programs of the Department. We encourage partnership opportunities with Minority Serving Institutions (Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities) and other minority-owned and serving entities on our mission-critical work. We serve as a strong advocate for equal employment opportunities, civil rights concerns, and non-discriminatory practices at the Department. In addition, the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity is charged with creating and sustaining a high performing, inclusive workforce by leveraging diversity and empowering all employees to achieve superior results in the service of our Nation. Our office measures success in its effectiveness in aiding the disadvantaged in finding opportunities at the Department of Energy and in other Federal programs. Through extensive research and close partnerships, we have been able to specifically target barriers to minorities and execute strategies to overcome them. The Office of Economic Impact and Diversity is a model of how diversity positively impacts the Energy Department and provides a unique, cutting-edge quality to the Department.

The Underserved Areas File establishes underserved area designations for census tracts in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan parts of states and Federal and State American Indian Reservations and tribal and individual trust lands. The following are the definitions of underserved geographical areas based on HUDs housing goals regulations at 24 CFR Section 81.2. a. Central Cities and Other Parts of Metropolitan Areas (i) A census tract with median income at or below 120 percent of the median income of the metropolitan area (MSA) and a minority population of 30 percent or greater; or (ii) A census tract with median income at or below 90 percent of median income of the MSA. b. Nonmetropolitan Areas (i) A census tract with median income at or below 120 percent of the greater of the State nonmetropolitan median income or the nationwide nonmetropolitan median income and a minority population of 30 percent or greater; or (ii) A census tract with median income at or below 95 percent of the greater of the State nonmetropolitan median income or the nationwide nonmetropolitan median income. c. Tribal Lands in Metropolitan Areas (i) A Federal or State American Indian reservation or tribal or individual trust land with a median income at or below 120 percent of the median income of the MSA and a minority population of 30 percent or greater; or (ii) A Federal or State American Indian reservation or tribal or individual trust land with a median income at or below 90 percent of median income of the MSA. d. Tribal Lands in Nonmetropolitan Areas (i) A Federal or State American Indian reservation or tribal or individual trust land with a median income at or below 120 percent of the greater of the state nonmetropolitan median income or the nationwide nonmetropolitan median income and a minority population of 30 percent or greater; or (ii) A Federal or State American Indian reservation or tribal or individual trust land with a median income at or below 95 percent of the greater of the state nonmetropolitan median income or the nationwide nonmetropolitan median income. e. Tribal Lands that Cross Metropolitan / Nonmetropolitan Area and/or State Boundaries For certain Federal or State American Indian reservations or tribal or individual trust lands, the tribal area crosses an MSA or state boundary. In these cases, the median incomes of the MSA or MSAs, the nonmetropolitan area of the state or states, or the nationwide nonmetropolitan area that applies to the tract containing the tribal area determines whether the part of the Federal or State American Indian reservation or tribal or individual trust land is underserved. METHODOLOGY: Whether a tract has 30 percent or more minority population is determined by rounding 30 percent of the tracts population to the nearest person, and comparing this to the count of minority persons in the area. The applicable percentage of area median income and whether the tracts median income is below it is determined by rounding the applicable percentage of area median income to the nearest dollar and comparing this to tract median family income. Data is current as of 04/08/2013 Internet Archive URL: https://web.archive.org/web/2017*/https://egis-hud.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/b3c1cc62d6f04521bc719d76c8332984_0