As used in NRS 278.026 to 278.029, inclusive, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. “Affected entity” means a public utility, franchise holder, local or regional agency, or any other entity having responsibility for planning or providing public facilities relating to transportation, solid waste, energy generation and transmission, conventions and the promotion of tourism, air quality or public education. The term does not include:

(a) A state agency; or

(b) A public utility which is subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada.

2. “Facilities plan” means a plan for the development of public facilities which will have a regional impact or which will aid in accomplishing regional goals relating to transportation, solid waste, energy generation and transmission, conventions and the promotion of tourism, air quality or public education. The term does not include a plan for the development of a specific site or regulations adopted by an affected entity to implement the comprehensive regional plan.

3. “Governing board” means the governing board for regional planning created pursuant to NRS 278.0264.

4. “Joint planning area” means an area that is the subject of common study and planning by the governing body of a county and one or more cities.

5. “Project of regional significance,” with respect to a project proposed by any person other than a public utility, means a project which:

(a) Has been identified in the guidelines of the regional planning commission as a project which will result in the loss or significant degradation of a designated historic, archeological, paleontological, cultural or scenic resource;

(b) Has been identified in the guidelines of the regional planning commission as a project which will result in the creation of significant new geothermal or mining operations;

(c) Has been identified in the guidelines of the regional planning commission as a project which will have a significant effect on the natural resources, public services, public facilities, including, without limitation, schools, or the adopted regional form of the region; or

(d) Will require a change in zoning, a special use permit, an amendment to a master plan, a tentative map or other approval for the use of land which, if approved, will have an effect on the region of increasing:

(1) Employment by not less than 938 employees;

(2) Housing by not less than 625 units;

(3) Hotel accommodations by not less than 625 rooms;

(4) Sewage by not less than 187,500 gallons per day;

(5) Water usage by not less than 625 acre feet per year; or

(6) Traffic by not less than an average of 6,250 trips daily.

The term does not include any project for which a request for an amendment to a master plan, a change in zoning, a tentative map or a special use permit has been approved by the local planning commission before June 17, 1989.

6. “Project of regional significance,” with respect to a project proposed by a utility, includes:

(a) An electric substation;

(b) A transmission line that carries 60 kilovolts or more;

(c) A facility that generates electricity greater than 5 megawatts;

(d) Natural gas storage and peak shaving facilities; and

(e) Gas regulator stations and mains that operate over 100 pounds per square inch.

7. “Sphere of influence” means an area into which a city plans to expand as designated in the comprehensive regional plan within the time designated in the comprehensive regional plan.

(Added to NRS by 1989, 759; A 1991, 1733; 1995, 2662; 1997, 1981; 1999, 2124; 2005, 1586; 2009, 378)