As used in this Article the following words and terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context shall indicate another or different meaning or intent:

(1) The word “authority” shall mean an authority created under the provisions of this Article or, if such authority shall be abolished, the board, body or commission succeeding to the principal functions thereof or to whom the powers given by this Article to the authority shall be given by law.

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(2) The word “Commission” shall mean the Environmental Management Commission.

(3) The word “cost” as applied to a water system or a sewer system shall include the purchase price of any such system, the cost of construction, the cost of all labor and materials, machinery and equipment, the cost of improvements, the cost of all lands, property, rights, easements and franchises acquired, financing charges, interest prior to and during construction and, if deemed advisable by the authority, for one year after completion of construction, cost of plans and specifications, surveys and estimates of cost and of revenues, cost of engineering and legal services, and all other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of such construction, administrative expense and such other expenses, including reasonable provision for working capital, as may be necessary or incident to the financing herein authorized. Any obligation or expense incurred by the authority or by any political subdivision prior to the issuance of bonds under the provisions of this Article in connection with any of the foregoing items or cost may be regarded as a part of such cost.

(4) The term “governing body” shall mean the board, commission, council or other body, by whatever name it may be known, in which the general legislative powers of the political subdivision are vested.

(5) The word “improvements” shall mean such repairs, replacements, additions, extensions and betterments of and to a water system or a sewer system as are deemed necessary by the authority to place or to maintain such system in proper condition for its safe, efficient and economic operation or to meet requirements for service in areas which may be served by the authority and for which no existing service is being rendered.

(6) The word “person” shall mean any and all persons, including individuals, firms, partnerships, associations, public or private institutions, municipalities, or political subdivisions, governmental agencies, or private or public corporations organized and existing under the laws of this State or any other state or country.

(7) The term “political subdivision” shall mean any county, city, town, incorporated village, sanitary district or other political subdivision or public corporation of this State now or hereafter incorporated.

(7a) The word “revenues” shall mean all moneys received by an authority from or in connection with any sewer system or water system including, without limitation, any moneys received as interest grants.

(8) The word “sewage” shall mean the water-carried wastes created in and carried or to be carried away from residences, hotels, schools, hospitals, industrial establishments, commercial establishments or any other private or public building together with such surface or groundwater or household and industrial wastes as may be present.

(9) The term “sewage disposal system” shall mean and shall include any plant, system, facility, or property used or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the collection, treatment, purification or disposal of sewage (including industrial wastes resulting from any processes of industry, manufacture, trade or business or from the development of any natural resources), or any integral part thereof, including but not limited to septic tank systems or other on-site collection or disposal facilities or systems, treatment plants, pumping stations, intercepting sewers, trunk sewers, pressure lines, mains and all necessary appurtenances and equipment, and all property, rights, easements and franchises relating thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by the authority for the operation thereof.

(10) The word “sewers” shall include mains, pipes and laterals for the reception of sewage and carrying such sewage to an outfall or some part of a sewage disposal system, including pumping stations where deemed necessary by the authority.

(11) The term “sewer system” shall embrace both sewers and sewage disposal systems and all property, rights, easements and franchises relating thereto.

(12) The term “water system” shall mean and include all plants, systems, facilities or properties used or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the supply or distribution of water or the control and drainage of stormwater runoff and any integral part thereof, including but not limited to water supply systems, water distribution systems, stormwater management programs designed to protect water quality by controlling the level of pollutants in, and the quantity and flow of, stormwater and structural and natural stormwater and drainage systems of all types, sources of water supply including lakes, reservoirs and wells, intakes, mains, laterals, aqueducts, pumping stations, standpipes, filtration plants, purification plants, hydrants, meters, valves, and all necessary appurtenances and equipment and all properties, rights, easements and franchises relating thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by the authority for the operation thereof. (1955, c. 1195, s. 2; 1969, c. 850; 1971, c. 892, s. 1; 1979, c. 619, s. 8; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 1004, s. 43; 1991, c. 591, s. 3; 2000-70, s. 5.)