((a)) Of the total amount appropriated for this section in any fiscal year:

((1)) 50 percent shall be allocated to and shared equally among rural States as described in subsection (b); and

((2)) 50 percent shall be allocated to the remaining States for use in nonmetropolitan areas within those States, as follows:

((A)) $250,000 to each nonrural State; and

((B)) of the total funds remaining after the allocation in subparagraph (A), there shall be allocated to each State an amount which bears the same ratio to the amount of remaining funds described as the population of such State bears to the population of all States.

((b)) For the purpose of this section, the term “rural State” means a State that has a population density of fifty-two or fewer persons per square mile or a State in which the largest county has fewer than one hundred and fifty thousand people, based on the decennial census of 1990 through fiscal year 1997.