AI-assisted research summary: This section defines terms used in the chapter, including commission, utility, service area, system, wastewater, and related utility-service concepts.
367.021 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the following words or terms shall have the meanings indicated:(1) “Certificate of authorization” means a document issued by the commission authorizing a utility to provide service in a specific service area. (2) “Commission” means the Florida Public Service Commission. (3) “Contribution-in-aid-of-construction” means any amount or item of money, services, or property received by a utility, from any person or governmental authority, any portion of which is provided at no cost to the utility, which represents a donation or contribution to the capital of the utility, and which is used to offset the acquisition, improvement, or construction costs of the utility property, facilities, or equipment used to provide utility services. (4) “Corporate undertaking” means the unqualified guarantee of a utility to pay a refund and pay interest connected therewith which may be ordered by the commission at such time as the obligation becomes fixed and final. (5) “Domestic wastewater” means wastewater principally from dwellings, business buildings, institutions, and sanitary wastewater or sewage treatment plants. (6) “Effluent reuse” means the use of wastewater after the treatment process, generally for reuse as irrigation water or for in-plant use. (7) “Governmental authority” means a political subdivision, as defined by s. 1.01(8), a regional water supply authority created pursuant to s. 373.713, or a nonprofit corporation formed for the purpose of acting on behalf of a political subdivision with respect to a water or wastewater facility. (8) “Industrial wastewater” means wastewater not otherwise defined as domestic wastewater, including runoff and leachate from areas that receive pollutants associated with industrial or commercial storage, handling, or processing. (9) “Official date of filing” means the date upon which it has been determined, pursuant to s. 367.083, by the commission that the utility has filed with the clerk the minimum filing requirements as established by rule of the commission. (10) “Service area” means the geographical area described in a certificate of authorization, which may be within or without the boundaries of an incorporated municipality and may include areas in more than one county. (11) “System” means facilities and land used or useful in providing service and, upon a finding by the commission, may include a combination of functionally related facilities and land. (12) “Utility” means a water or wastewater utility and, except as provided in s. 367.022, includes every person, lessee, trustee, or receiver owning, operating, managing, or controlling a system, or proposing construction of a system, who is providing, or proposes to provide, water or wastewater service to the public for compensation. (13) “Wastewater” means the combination of the liquid and water-carried pollutants from a residence, commercial building, industrial plant, or institution, together with any groundwater, surface runoff, or leachate that may be present.