The following words and phrases have the meanings ascribed to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1)  “Chief elected official” means the mayor, elected city or town administrator or, in the absence of these officials, the city or town council president.

(2)  “Chief executive officer” means the mayor, elected city or town administrator, appointed city or town manager or administrator, or, in the absence of these officials, the city or town council president.

(3)  “Compensation,” in the context of a siting or impact agreement, means any money, thing of value or economic benefit conferred by the developer on any city, town, or person under the terms and conditions specified in the siting or impact agreement established pursuant to this chapter.

(4)  “Developer” means any person who proposes to site, construct, substantially alter, or operate a hazardous waste management facility as defined in this section.

(5)  “Generator” means any hazardous waste generator as the term is defined for the purposes of the Hazardous Waste Management Act, chapter 19.1 of this title.

(6)  “Hazardous waste” means hazardous waste as the term is defined for purposes of the Hazardous Waste Management Act, chapter 19.1 of this title.

(7)  “Hazardous waste management facility” means hazardous waste management facility as that term is defined for purposes of the Hazardous Waste Management Act, chapter 19.1 of this title.

(8)  “Host community” means a city or town of the state in which a developer proposes to site, construct, substantially alter, or operate a hazardous waste management facility.

(9)  “Impact agreement” means a contract negotiated between, binding upon, and enforceable against a developer and a neighboring community as defined in this section. This agreement may address mitigation of or compensation for impacts likely to be experienced by a neighboring community as a consequence of the siting, construction, operation, or alteration of a hazardous waste management facility.

(10)  “Local assessment committee” means a body established by a host or neighboring community for the specific purpose of negotiating a siting or impact agreement with a hazardous waste management facility developer.

(11)  “Local governing body” means any town or city council, commission or other elective governing body now or after this vested by state statute, charter, or other law, with jurisdiction to initiate and adopt local ordinances.

(12)  “Neighboring community” means a city or town which shares a common border with a host community as defined in this section, or which, absent a common border, lies in whole or in part within a one-mile radius of the lot or lots on which a developer proposes to site, construct, substantially alter, or operate a hazardous waste management facility.

(13)  “On-site” means conducted at facilities which are located on property contiguous to or divided only by a public or private way from the source of generation, and which are solely owned and operated by the source and operated exclusively for the management of hazardous waste generated by the source.

(14)  “Person” means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, or corporation (including a government or public corporation, political subdivision of a state, local government body, any interstate body or any local, state, or federal agency).

(15)  “Public drinking water supply aquifer” means a groundwater reservoir and recharge area or areas which supplies or has been shown by competent hydrologic and water quality analysis to be capable of supplying water to any public water supply system as defined by the department of health under § 46-13-2.

(16)  “Public drinking water supply reservoir” means a surface water body and related watershed area which supply water to any public water supply system as defined by the department of health under § 46-13-2.

(17)  “Siting agreement” means a contract negotiated between, binding upon, and enforceable against a developer and a host community. This agreement may address any of a variety of issues of mutual concern including, but not limited to, the mitigation of or compensation for impacts likely to be experienced by the host community as a consequence of the siting, construction, operation, or alteration of a hazardous waste management facility.

(18)  “State” means the state of Rhode Island.