16 U.S.C. § 796 : US Code - Section 796: Definitions

Search 16 U.S.C. § 796 : US Code - Section 796: Definitions

The words defined in this section shall have the following
meanings for purposes of this chapter, to wit:
(1) "public lands" means such lands and interest in lands owned
by the United States as are subject to private appropriation and
disposal under public land laws. It shall not include
"reservations", as hereinafter defined;
(2) "reservations" means national forests, tribal lands
embraced within Indian reservations, military reservations, and
other lands and interests in lands owned by the United States,
and withdrawn, reserved, or withheld from private appropriation
and disposal under the public land laws; also lands and interests
in lands acquired and held for any public purposes; but shall not
include national monuments or national parks;
(3) "corporation" means any corporation, joint-stock company,
partnership, association, business trust, organized group of
persons, whether incorporated or not, or a receiver or receivers,
trustee or trustees of any of the foregoing. It shall not include
"municipalities" as hereinafter defined;
(4) "person" means an individual or a corporation;
(5) "licensee" means any person, State, or municipality
licensed under the provisions of section 797 of this title, and
any assignee or successor in interest thereof;
(6) "State" means a State admitted to the Union, the District
of Columbia, and any organized Territory of the United States;
(7) "municipality" means a city, county, irrigation district,
drainage district, or other political subdivision or agency of a
State competent under the laws thereof to carry on the business
of developing, transmitting, utilizing, or distributing power;
(8) "navigable waters" means those parts of streams or other
bodies of water over which Congress has jurisdiction under its
authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the
several States, and which either in their natural or improved
condition notwithstanding interruptions between the navigable
parts of such streams or waters by falls, shallows, or rapids
compelling land carriage, are used or suitable for use for the
transportation of persons or property in interstate or foreign
commerce, including therein all such interrupting falls,
shallows, or rapids, together with such other parts of streams as
shall have been authorized by Congress for improvement by the
United States or shall have been recommended to Congress for such
improvement after investigation under its authority;
(9) "municipal purposes" means and includes all purposes within
municipal powers as defined by the constitution or laws of the
State or by the charter of the municipality;
(10) "Government dam" means a dam or other work constructed or
owned by the United States for Government purposes with or
without contribution from others;
(11) "project" means complete unit of improvement or
development, consisting of a power house, all water conduits, all
dams and appurtenant works and structures (including navigation
structures) which are a part of said unit, and all storage,
diverting, or forebay reservoirs directly connected therewith,
the primary line or lines transmitting power therefrom to the
point of junction with the distribution system or with the
interconnected primary transmission system, all miscellaneous
structures used and useful in connection with said unit or any
part thereof, and all water-rights, rights-of-way, ditches, dams,
reservoirs, lands, or interest in lands the use and occupancy of
which are necessary or appropriate in the maintenance and
operation of such unit;
(12) "project works" means the physical structures of a
project;
(13) "net investment" in a project means the actual legitimate
original cost thereof as defined and interpreted in the
"classification of investment in road and equipment of steam
roads, issue of 1914, Interstate Commerce Commission", plus
similar costs of additions thereto and betterments thereof, minus
the sum of the following items properly allocated thereto, if and
to the extent that such items have been accumulated during the
period of the license from earnings in excess of a fair return on
such investment: (a) Unappropriated surplus, (b) aggregate credit
balances of current depreciation accounts, and (c) aggregate
appropriations of surplus or income held in amortization, sinking
fund, or similar reserves, or expended for additions or
betterments or used for the purposes for which such reserves were
created. The term "cost" shall include, insofar as applicable,
the elements thereof prescribed in said classification, but shall
not include expenditures from funds obtained through donations by
States, municipalities, individuals, or others, and said
classification of investment of the Interstate Commerce
Commission shall insofar as applicable be published and
promulgated as a part of the rules and regulations of the
Commission;
(14) "Commission" and "Commissioner" means the Federal Power
Commission, and a member thereof, respectively;
(15) "State commission" means the regulatory body of the State
or municipality having jurisdiction to regulate rates and charges
for the sale of electric energy to consumers within the State or
municipality;
(16) "security" means any note, stock, treasury stock, bond,
debenture, or other evidence of interest in or indebtedness of a
corporation subject to the provisions of this chapter;
(17)(A) "small power production facility" means a facility
which is an eligible solar, wind, waste, or geothermal facility,
or a facility which -
(i) produces electric energy solely by the use, as a primary
energy source, of biomass, waste, renewable resources,
geothermal resources, or any combination thereof; and
(ii) has a power production capacity which, together with any
other facilities located at the same site (as determined by the
Commission), is not greater than 80 megawatts;
(B) "primary energy source" means the fuel or fuels used for
the generation of electric energy, except that such term does not
include, as determined under rules prescribed by the Commission,
in consultation with the Secretary of Energy -
(i) the minimum amounts of fuel required for ignition,
startup, testing, flame stabilization, and control uses, and
(ii) the minimum amounts of fuel required to alleviate or
prevent -
(I) unanticipated equipment outages, and
(II) emergencies, directly affecting the public health,
safety, or welfare, which would result from electric power
outages;
(C) "qualifying small power production facility" means a small
power production facility that the Commission determines, by
rule, meets such requirements (including requirements respecting
fuel use, fuel efficiency, and reliability) as the Commission
may, by rule, prescribe;
(D) "qualifying small power producer" means the owner or
operator of a qualifying small power production facility;
(E) "eligible solar, wind, waste or geothermal facility" means
a facility which produces electric energy solely by the use, as a
primary energy source, of solar energy, wind energy, waste
resources or geothermal resources; but only if -
(i) either of the following is submitted to the Commission
not later than December 31, 1994:
(I) an application for certification of the facility as a
qualifying small power production facility; or
(II) notice that the facility meets the requirements for
qualification; and
(ii) construction of such facility commences not later than
December 31, 1999, or, if not, reasonable diligence is
exercised toward the completion of such facility taking into
account all factors relevant to construction of the
facility.(!1)
(18)(A) "cogeneration facility" means a facility which produces
-
(i) electric energy, and
(ii) steam or forms of useful energy (such as heat) which are
used for industrial, commercial, heating, or cooling purposes;
(B) "qualifying cogeneration facility" means a cogeneration
facility that the Commission determines, by rule, meets such
requirements (including requirements respecting minimum size,
fuel use, and fuel efficiency) as the Commission may, by rule,
prescribe;
(C) "qualifying cogenerator" means the owner or operator of a
qualifying cogeneration facility;
(19) "Federal power marketing agency" means any agency or
instrumentality of the United States (other than the Tennessee
Valley Authority) which sells electric energy;
(20) "evidentiary hearings" and "evidentiary proceeding" mean a
proceeding conducted as provided in sections 554, 556, and 557 of
title 5;
(21) "State regulatory authority" has the same meaning as the
term "State commission", except that in the case of an electric
utility with respect to which the Tennessee Valley Authority has
ratemaking authority (as defined in section 2602 of this title),
such term means the Tennessee Valley Authority;
(22) Electric utility. - (A) The term "electric utility" means
a person or Federal or State agency (including an entity
described in section 824(f) of this title) that sells electric
energy.(!1)
(B) The term "electric utility" includes the Tennessee Valley
Authority and each Federal power marketing administration.
(23) Transmitting utility. - The term "transmitting utility"
means an entity (including an entity described in section 824(f)
of this title) that owns, operates, or controls facilities used
for the transmission of electric energy -
(A) in interstate commerce;
(B) for the sale of electric energy at wholesale.(!1)
(24) Wholesale transmission services. - The term "wholesale
transmission services" means the transmission of electric energy
sold, or to be sold, at wholesale in interstate commerce.(!1)
(25) Exempt wholesale generator. - The term "exempt wholesale
generator" shall have the meaning provided by section 79z-5a (!2)
of title 15.(!1)
(26) Electric cooperative. - The term "electric cooperative"
means a cooperatively owned electric utility.(!1)
(27) RTO. - The term "Regional Transmission Organization" or
"RTO" means an entity of sufficient regional scope approved by
the Commission -
(A) to exercise operational or functional control of
facilities used for the transmission of electric energy in
interstate commerce; and
(B) to ensure nondiscriminatory access to the facilities.(!1)
(28) ISO. - The term "Independent System Operator" or "ISO"
means an entity approved by the Commission -
(A) to exercise operational or functional control of
facilities used for the transmission of electric energy in
interstate commerce; and
(B) to ensure nondiscriminatory access to the facilities.(!3)
(29) Transmission organization. - The term "Transmission
Organization" means a Regional Transmission Organization,
Independent System Operator, independent transmission provider,
or other transmission organization finally approved by the
Commission for the operation of transmission facilities.