Section 3706.01. Air quality development authority definitions

As used in this chapter:

(A) "Governmental agency" means a department, division, or other unit of state government, a municipal corporation, county, township, and other political subdivision, or any other public corporation or agency having the power to acquire, construct, or operate air quality facilities, the United States or any agency thereof, and any agency, commission, or authority established pursuant to an interstate compact or agreement.

(B) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, association, or corporation, or any combination thereof.

(C) "Air contaminant" means particulate matter, dust, fumes, gas, mist, smoke, noise, vapor, heat, radioactivity, radiation, or odorous substance, or any combination thereof.

(D) "Air pollution" means the presence in the ambient air of one or more air contaminants in sufficient quantity and of such characteristics and duration as to injure human health or welfare, plant or animal life, or property, or that unreasonably interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property.

(E) "Ambient air" means that portion of the atmosphere outside of buildings and other enclosures, stacks, or ducts that surrounds human, plant, or animal life, or property.

(F) "Emission" means the release into the outdoor atmosphere of an air contaminant.

(G) "Air quality facility" means any of the following:

(1) Any method, modification or replacement of property, process, device, structure, or equipment that removes, reduces, prevents, contains, alters, conveys, stores, disperses, or disposes of air contaminants or substances containing air contaminants, or that renders less noxious or reduces the concentration of air contaminants in the ambient air, including, without limitation, facilities and expenditures that qualify as air pollution control facilities under section 103 (C)(4)(F) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, and regulations adopted thereunder;

(2) Motor vehicle inspection stations operated in accordance with, and any equipment used for motor vehicle inspections conducted under, section 3704.14 of the Revised Code and rules adopted under it;

(3) Ethanol or other biofuel facilities, including any equipment used at the ethanol or other biofuel facility for the production of ethanol or other biofuels;

(4) Any property or portion thereof used for the collection, storage, treatment, utilization, processing, or final disposal of a by-product or solid waste resulting from any method, process, device, structure, or equipment that removes, reduces, prevents, contains, alters, conveys, stores, disperses, or disposes of air contaminants, or that renders less noxious or reduces the concentration of air contaminants in the ambient air;

(5) Any property, device, or equipment that promotes the reduction of emissions of air contaminants into the ambient air through improvements in the efficiency of energy utilization or energy conservation;

(6) Any coal research and development project conducted under Chapter 1555. of the Revised Code;

(7) As determined by the director of the Ohio coal development office, any property or portion thereof that is used for the collection, storage, treatment, utilization, processing, or final disposal of a by-product resulting from a coal research and development project as defined in section 1555.01 of the Revised Code or from the use of clean coal technology, excluding any property or portion thereof that is used primarily for other subsequent commercial purposes;

(8) Any property or portion thereof that is part of the FutureGen project of the United States department of energy or related to the siting of the FutureGen project ;

(9) Any property, device, or equipment that promotes the reduction of emissions of air contaminants into the ambient air through the generation of clean, renewable energy with renewable energy resources or advanced energy resources as defined in section 3706.25 of the Revised Code ;

(10) Any property, device, structure or equipment necessary for the manufacture and production of equipment described as an air quality facility under this chapter;

(11) Any property, device, or equipment related to the recharging or refueling of vehicles that promotes the reduction of emissions of air contaminants into the ambient air through the use of an alternative fuel as defined in section 125.831 of the Revised Code or the use of a renewable energy resource as defined in section 3706.25 of the Revised Code.

"Air quality facility" further includes any property or system to be used in whole or in part for any of the purposes in divisions (G)(1) to (11) of this section, whether another purpose is also served, and any property or system incidental to or that has to do with, or the end purpose of which is, any of the foregoing. Air quality facilities that are defined in this division for industry, commerce, distribution, or research, including public utility companies, are hereby determined to be those that qualify as facilities for the control of air pollution and thermal pollution related to air under Section 13 of Article VIII, Ohio Constitution.

(H) "Project" or "air quality project" means any air quality facility, including undivided or other interests therein, acquired or to be acquired or constructed or to be constructed by the Ohio air quality development authority under this chapter, or acquired or to be acquired or constructed or to be constructed by a governmental agency or person with all or a part of the cost thereof being paid from a loan or grant from the authority under this chapter or otherwise paid from the proceeds of air quality revenue bonds, including all buildings and facilities that the authority determines necessary for the operation of the project, together with all property, rights, easements, and interests that may be required for the operation of the project.

(I) "Cost" as applied to an air quality project means the cost of acquisition and construction, the cost of acquisition of all land, rights-of-way, property rights, easements, franchise rights, and interests required for such acquisition and construction, the cost of demolishing or removing any buildings or structures on land so acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which such buildings or structures may be moved, the cost of acquiring or constructing and equipping a principal office and sub-offices of the authority, the cost of diverting highways, interchange of highways, and access roads to private property, including the cost of land or easements for such access roads, the cost of public utility and common carrier relocation or duplication, the cost of all machinery, furnishings, and equipment, financing charges, interest prior to and during construction and for no more than eighteen months after completion of construction, engineering, expenses of research and development with respect to air quality facilities, the cost of any commodity contract, including fees and expenses related thereto, legal expenses, plans, specifications, surveys, studies, estimates of cost and revenues, working capital, other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of acquiring or constructing such project, administrative expense, and such other expense as may be necessary or incident to the acquisition or construction of the project, the financing of such acquisition or construction, including the amount authorized in the resolution of the authority providing for the issuance of air quality revenue bonds to be paid into any special funds from the proceeds of such bonds, and the financing of the placing of such project in operation. Any obligation, cost, or expense incurred by any governmental agency or person for surveys, borings, preparation of plans and specifications, and other engineering services, or any other cost described above, in connection with the acquisition or construction of a project may be regarded as a part of the cost of that project and may be reimbursed out of the proceeds of air quality revenue bonds as authorized by this chapter.

(J) "Owner" includes an individual, copartnership, association, or corporation having any title or interest in any property, rights, easements, or interests authorized to be acquired by this chapter.

(K) "Revenues" means all rentals and other charges received by the authority for the use or services of any air quality project, any gift or grant received with respect to any air quality project, any moneys received with respect to the lease, sublease, sale, including installment sale or conditional sale, or other disposition of an air quality project, moneys received in repayment of and for interest on any loans made by the authority to a person or governmental agency, whether from the United States or any department, administration, or agency thereof, or otherwise, proceeds of such bonds to the extent that use thereof for payment of principal of, premium, if any, or interest on the bonds is authorized by the authority, amounts received or otherwise derived from a commodity contract or from the sale of the related commodity under such a contract, proceeds from any insurance, condemnation, or guaranty pertaining to a project or property mortgaged to secure bonds or pertaining to the financing of the project, and income and profit from the investment of the proceeds of air quality revenue bonds or of any revenues.

(L) "Public roads" includes all public highways, roads, and streets in the state, whether maintained by the state, county, city, township, or other political subdivision.

(M) "Public utility facilities" includes tracks, pipes, mains, conduits, cables, wires, towers, poles, and other equipment and appliances of any public utility.

(N) "Construction," unless the context indicates a different meaning or intent, includes reconstruction, enlargement, improvement, or providing furnishings or equipment.

(O) "Air quality revenue bonds," unless the context indicates a different meaning or intent, includes air quality revenue notes, air quality revenue renewal notes, and air quality revenue refunding bonds, except that notes issued in anticipation of the issuance of bonds shall have a maximum maturity of five years as provided in section 3706.05 of the Revised Code and notes or renewal notes issued as the definitive obligation may be issued maturing at such time or times with a maximum maturity of forty years from the date of issuance of the original note.

(P) "Solid waste" means any garbage; refuse; sludge from a waste water treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility; and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but not including solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges that are point sources subject to permits under section 402 of the "Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972," 86 Stat. 880, 33 U.S.C.A. 1342, as amended, or source, special nuclear, or byproduct material as defined by the "Atomic Energy Act of 1954," 68 Stat. 921, 42 U.S.C.A. 2011, as amended.

(Q) "Sludge" means any solid, semisolid, or liquid waste, other than a recyclable by-product, generated from a municipal, commercial, or industrial waste water treatment plant, water supply plant, or air pollution control facility or any other such wastes having similar characteristics and effects.

(R) "Ethanol or other biofuel facility" means a plant at which ethanol or other biofuel is produced.

(S) "Ethanol" means fermentation ethyl alcohol derived from agricultural products, including potatoes, cereal, grains, cheese whey, and sugar beets; forest products; or other renewable or biomass resources, including residue and waste generated from the production, processing, and marketing of agricultural products, forest products, and other renewable or biomass resources, that meets all of the specifications in the American society for testing and materials (ASTM) specification D 4806-88 and is denatured as specified in Parts 20 and 21 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(T) "Biofuel" means any fuel that is made from cellulosic biomass resources, including renewable organic matter, crop waste residue, wood, aquatic plants and other crops, animal waste, solid waste, or sludge, and that is used for the production of energy for transportation or other purposes.

(U) "FutureGen project" means the buildings, equipment, and real property and functionally related buildings, equipment, and real property, including related research projects that support the development and operation of the buildings, equipment, and real property, designated by the United States department of energy and the FutureGen industrial alliance, inc., as the coal-fueled, zero-emissions power plant designed to prove the technical and economic feasibility of producing electricity and hydrogen from coal and nearly eliminating carbon dioxide emissions through capture and permanent storage.

(V) "Commodity contract" means a contract or series of contracts entered into in connection with the acquisition or construction of air quality facilities for the purchase or sale of a commodity that is eligible for prepayment with the proceeds of federally tax exempt bonds under sections 103, 141, and 148 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and regulations adopted under it.

Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. 25, HB 59, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2013.

Effective Date: 03-21-2002; 04-04-2006; 2006 HB699 12-28-2006; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007; 2008 HB554 06-12-2008