63-3622NN. CLEAN ROOMS. (1) There is exempted from the taxes imposed by this chapter the sale at retail, storage, use or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property which is exclusively used in or to maintain the environment of, or is or becomes a component part of, a clean room, without regard to whether the property is actually contained within the clean room or whether such tangible personal property ultimately becomes affixed to or incorporated into real property.

(2) The following definitions apply to this section:

(a) "Clean room" means an environment in a defined space, within a larger building, where humidity, temperature, particulate matter and contamination are precisely and regularly controlled; and

(i) Which is a "Class 10,000" clean room or better, and

(ii) In which the primary activities are:

1. Activities which qualify for the production exemption in section 63-3622D, Idaho Code, resulting in the manufacture of products which are either semiconductors, products manufactured using semiconductor manufacturing processes, or equipment used to manufacture semiconductors;

2. Activities which qualify for the research and development exemption in section 63-3622RR, Idaho Code; or

3. A combination of the activities described in subparagraphs 1. and 2. above.

(b) "Class 10,000 clean room" means a specified area in which the concentration of airborne particulates of five-tenths (0.5) micrometers or larger is regularly maintained at a level of cleanliness no greater than ten thousand (10,000) particles per cubic foot of air.

(c) "Semiconductor" means a small piece of semiconductor material including silicon:

(i) On which an integrated circuit is embedded, or

(ii) Which is altered in the manufacturing process by primarily using semiconductor processes.

(d) "Integrated circuit" means a complex of multiple active electronic components and their interconnections built upon a semiconductor substrate.

(e) "Semiconductor manufacturing processes" means chemical vapor deposition, plasma vapor deposition, wet and dry etch, chemical mechanical planarization or polishing and such other manufacturing processes generally recognized by the semiconductor industry as being standard processes in the industry.

(f) Property is "exclusively used" for a purpose when its use for any other purpose is insignificant or inconsequential.

History:

[63-3622NN, added 1999, ch. 130, sec. 1, p. 375; am. 2005, ch. 242, sec. 2, p. 753.]