§ 35-18-2. Definitions. The words defined in this section shall have the meanings set forth below whenever they appear in this chapter, unless the context in which they are used clearly requires a different meaning:

(1) "Bond" and "obligation" mean an agreement by any person to repay borrowed money.

(2) "Economic development project" means any project which the Rhode Island industrial facilities corporation is authorized to undertake, including, without limitation, a project related to financing the acquisition of any land and any building or other improvement which shall be suitable for manufacturing, warehousing, or other industrial or commercial purposes, including research, production, processing, agricultural, and marine commerce; provided, however, that the project may include, in addition, the construction or improvement of access roads and utilities, but only access roads and utilities, and only those which are necessary for the operation of that project.

(3) "Essential public facilities" means roads, bridges, airports, prisons, reservoirs, waste and wastewater treatment facilities, educational facilities, and any other facilities used by any state agency, department, board, or commission, including the board of governors for higher education, to provide services to the public pursuant to the requirements of state or federal law, all fixtures for any of those facilities and facilities financed or refinanced by bonds or other obligations of the water resources board corporate. It does not include any personal property.

(4) "Financing lease" means an agreement in the form of a lease between the state and any person which provides that upon payment by the state as lessee of aggregate rent equal to no less than all of the principal and interest on bonds or other obligations issued by the lessor to finance the acquisition, construction, or improvement of all or any part of an essential public facility, the state shall have the right to possess, use and enjoy that facility pursuant to the lease for a specified period and the option to purchase that facility for a nominal sum at the end of the period.

(5) "Governor" means the governor of the state.

(6) "Guarantee" and "guarantee lease" mean an agreement on the part of the state to guarantee any liability of a public corporation except a liability of the Rhode Island industrial recreational building authority.

(7) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, public corporation, trust, or association.

(8) "Public corporation" means any body corporate and politic created or to be created pursuant to statute, including, without limitation, the Rhode Island industrial recreational building authority, the Rhode Island economic development corporation and any subsidiaries thereof, the Rhode Island industrial facilities corporation, the Rhode Island refunding bond authority, the Rhode Island health and educational building authority, the board of governors for higher education, the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation, the Rhode Island resource recovery corporation, the Rhode Island public transit authority, the Rhode Island student loan authority, the water resources board corporate, (except as provided below), the Rhode Island health and educational building corporation, the Rhode Island depositors economic protection corporation, the Rhode Island convention center authority, the Rhode Island turnpike and bridge authority, their successors and assigns. Cities, towns, and any corporation created by a city or town pursuant to statute, and fire and water districts, are not public corporations under this chapter. The water resources board corporate is not a public corporation under this chapter to the extent it is financing or refinancing bonds or other obligations on behalf of a city, town, city or town instrumentalities or agencies, or fire or water districts.

(9) "State" means the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and any department, office, board, commission, or agency of the state.

History of Section. (P.L. 1994, ch. 148, § 1; P.L. 2000, ch. 55, art. 33, § 1; P.L. 2002, ch. 318, § 2; P.L. 2005, ch. 117, art. 6, § 1; P.L. 2011, ch. 363, § 25.)