As used in this chapter:

(A) "Court of common pleas" or "court" means, unless the context indicates a different meaning or intent, the court of common pleas in which the petition for the organization of a regional water and sewer district is filed.

(B) "Political subdivision" includes departments, divisions, authorities, or other units of state governments, watershed districts, soil and water conservation districts, park districts, municipal corporations, counties, townships, and other political subdivisions, special water districts, including county and regional water and sewer districts, conservancy districts, sanitary districts, sewer districts or any other public corporation or agency having the authority to acquire, construct, or operate waste water or water management facilities, and all other governmental agencies now or hereafter granted the power of levying taxes or special assessments, the United States or any agency thereof, and any agency, commission, or authority established pursuant to an interstate compact or agreement.

(C) "Person" means any natural person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation other than a political subdivision.

(D) "Beneficial use" means a use of water, including the method of diversion, storage, transportation, treatment, and application, that is reasonable and consistent with the public interest in the proper utilization of water resources, including, but not limited to, domestic, agricultural, industrial, power, municipal, navigational, fish and wildlife, and recreational uses.

(E) "Waters of the state" means all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, irrigation systems, drainage systems, and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface and underground, natural or artificial, that are situated wholly or partly within, or border upon, this state, or are within its jurisdiction, except those private waters that do not combine or effect a junction with natural surface or underground waters.

(F) "Water resources" means all waters of the state occurring on the surface in natural or artificial channels, lakes, reservoirs, or impoundments, and in subsurface aquifers, that are available or may be made available to agricultural, commercial, recreational, public, and domestic users.

(G) "Project" or "water resource project" means any waste water facility or water management facility acquired, constructed, or operated by or leased to a regional water and sewer district or to be acquired, constructed, or operated by or leased to a regional water and sewer district under this chapter, or acquired or constructed or to be acquired or constructed by a political subdivision with a portion of the cost thereof being paid from a loan or grant from the district under this chapter, including all buildings and facilities that the district considers necessary for the operation of the project, together with all property, rights, easements, and interest that may be required for the operation of the project. Any water resource project shall be determined by the board of trustees of the district to be consistent with any applicable comprehensive plan of water management approved by the director of natural resources or in the process of preparation by the director and to be not inconsistent with the standards set for the waters of the state affected thereby by the environmental protection agency. Any resolution of the board of trustees of the district providing for acquiring, operating, leasing, or constructing such projects or for making a loan or grant for such projects shall include a finding by the board of trustees of the district that those determinations have been made.

(H) "Pollution" means the placing of any noxious or deleterious substances in any waters of the state or affecting the properties of any waters of the state in a manner that renders those waters harmful or inimical to the public health, or to animal or aquatic life, or to the use of the waters for domestic water supply, industrial or agricultural purposes, or recreation.

(I) "Sewage" means any substance that contains any of the waste products or excrementitious or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals that pollutes the waters of the state.

(J) "Industrial waste" means any liquid, gaseous, or solid waste substance resulting from any process of industry, manufacture, trade, or business, or from the development, processing, or recovery of any natural resource, together with such sewage as is present, that pollutes the waters of the state.

(K) "Waste water" means any storm water and any water containing sewage or industrial waste or other pollutants or contaminants derived from the prior use of the water.

(L) "Waste water facilities" means facilities for the purpose of treating, neutralizing, disposing of, stabilizing, cooling, segregating, or holding waste water, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, facilities for the treatment and disposal of sewage or industrial waste and the residue thereof, facilities for the temporary or permanent impoundment of waste water, both surface and underground, and storm and sanitary sewers and other systems, whether on the surface or underground, designed to transport waste water, together with the equipment and furnishings thereof and their appurtenances and systems, whether on the surface or underground, including force mains and pumping facilities therefor when necessary.

(M) "Water management facilities" means facilities for the purpose of the development, use, and protection of water resources, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, facilities for water supply, facilities for stream flow improvement, dams, reservoirs, and other impoundments, water transmission lines, water wells and well fields, pumping stations and works for underground water recharge, stream monitoring systems, facilities for the stabilization of stream and river banks, and facilities for the treatment of streams and rivers, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, facilities for the removal of oil, debris, and other solid waste from the waters of the state and stream and river aeration facilities.

(N) "Cost" as applied to water resource projects 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 by the district 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 district, the cost of diverting highways, interchange of highways, and access roads to private property, including the cost of land or easements therefor, 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 acquisition or construction, engineering, expenses of research and development with respect to waste water or water management facilities, legal expenses, plans, specifications, surveys, estimates of cost and revenues, working capital, other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of acquiring or constructing any 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 the acquisition or construction, including the amount authorized in the resolution of the district providing for the issuance of water resource revenue bonds to be paid into any special funds from the proceeds of those bonds and the financing of the placing of any such project in operation. Any obligation or expense incurred by any political subdivision, and approved by the district, for surveys, borings, preparation of plans and specifications, and other engineering services in connection with the acquisition or construction of a project shall be regarded as a part of the cost of the project and may be reimbursed by the district.

(O) "Owner" includes all individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, or political subdivisions having any title or interest in any property rights, easements, and interests authorized to be acquired by this chapter.

(P) "Revenues" means all rentals and other charges received by a district for the use or services of any project, all special assessments levied by the district pursuant to this chapter, any gift or grant received with respect thereto, and moneys received in repayment of and for interest on any loan made by the district to a political subdivision, whether from the United States or a department, administration, or agency thereof, or otherwise.

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

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

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

(T) "Water resources bonds," unless the context indicates a different meaning or intent, includes water resource notes and water resource refunding bonds.

(U) "Regional water and sewer district" means a district organized or operating for one or both of the purposes described in section 6119.01 of the Revised Code and, if organized or operating for only one of those purposes, may be designated either a regional water district or a regional sewer district, as the case may be.

(V) "Homestead exemption" means the reduction of taxes allowed under division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code.

(W) "Low- and moderate-income person" has the same meaning as in section 175.01 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.9, HB 1, §101.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 11-19-1971 .