2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWELVE - Conservation (§§ 1-16 — 8162) › Subtitle 5 - Environment (§§ 1120 — 1436) › Chapter 125 - Industrial, Medical, Education and Environmental Pollution-Control Facilities Financing Authority (§§ 1251 — 1269) › § 1253 - Definitions

The following words and terms, whenever used or referred to in this chapter, shall have the meanings set forth hereinbelow, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) Authority.— Shall mean the Puerto Rico Industrial, Medical, Education and Environmental Pollution-Control Facilities Financing Authority established by this chapter, or, should said Authority be abolished or otherwise divested of its functions under this chapter, the public body or agency succeeding it in its principal functions, or that in which the rights, powers and duties hereby given to the Authority are vested by law.
(b) Board.— Shall mean the Governing Board of the Authority created by this chapter and if abolished, the Board or body succeeding it in the performance of its principal functions.
(c) Bonds.— Shall mean bonds, temporary bonds, refunding bonds, obligations, notes, interim receipts or provisional bonds, certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness of the Authority issued under the provisions of this chapter.
(d) Costs.— When applied to any project, it shall mean all costs incurred in the acquisition and construction, or those otherwise incurred to develop or make any project feasible. These shall include, without being limited to: the cost of construction, the cost of acquisition of all property, including rights to land and other property, both real and personal, improved or unimproved; the cost of demolishing, removing, and relocating any buildings or structures on the land so acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which such buildings or structures may be moved or relocated; the cost of all machinery, furnishings, and equipment; the cost of marketing or selling tourist facilities or any component thereof; the payment or provision to pay, totally or partially, the existing debt incurred by or on behalf of a debtor or user to provide funds for the payment of the costs of a project or projects; financing charges and any other charges and interest incurred prior to or during construction, if deemed advisable by the Authority, and for the period it may determine after the completion of construction; debt service reserves or any other reserve required by the Tourism Development Fund as a condition to secure a bond issue; the cost of studies, market analysis, surveys, plans, and specifications; the cost of legal counsel; accountants, engineers, environmentalists, and other professionals; it shall likewise include the cost of health service consultants, financial advisors, and other special services, and other necessary or incidental expenses to determine the feasibility or practicability of the project; the cost of site preparation, development, and landscaping; the initial cost of occupancy and/or opening of the project, or any part thereof; administrative and other expenses necessary or incidental to the financing and establishing of the project, including reimbursement to any government agency or to any debtor or user with respect to such project for such expenditures incurred, with the prior approval of the Authority, which would have been costs of the abovementioned project had they been incurred directly by the Authority, and any administrative or financing fees or charges imposed by the Authority; and the payment or reimbursement of costs to any debtor or user prior to the closing date of the financing to be granted by the Authority or by a financial institution that has obtained the funds from the Authority to finance projects, but said prior term shall not exceed the term allowed by any federal law or regulation applicable to said payment or reimbursement or, if there were no applicable federal law or regulation, the term determined by the Authority, which shall not exceed two (2) years. All the aforementioned costs shall be subject to the terms, conditions, and financing installments imposed by the Authority.
(e) Current expenses.— Shall mean the amount of reasonable and necessary current expenses incurred by the Authority in connection with any project as the same may be more fully defined in the project’s trust agreement or financing agreement.
(f) Federal agency.— Shall mean the United States of America, the President of the United States of America and any department, corporation, agency or instrumentality designated or established by the United States of America.
(g) Financing agreement.— It shall mean the agreement or agreements between the Authority and any debtor or guarantor in relation to a project or projects, whether directly or indirectly, under which the payments to the Authority, in their entirety, shall be sufficient to pay all of the principal and interest and any redemption premium, and to provide and maintain any reserves for the bonds to be issued by the Authority to pay the cost of such project or projects, and to pay in its entirety the expense incurred by the Authority in connection therewith; it shall also mean, but without being limited to leasing agreements, sales with payments by installments, purchase agreements, conditional sale agreements, sale-and-leasebacks, loans, mortgages, or lease contracts, or any other financing agreements or combination of the above that the Authority may determine to be in accordance with the purposes for which the Authority was created.
(h) Guarantor.— Shall mean any person, directly or indirectly liable under the provisions of a financing agreement for the unpaid portion of the debtor’s obligations, whether he is designated a guarantor, surety, endorser, accommodation party, insurer or any other designation.
(i) Industrial facilities.— It shall mean any building, structure, facility, equipment, improvement, or system, and any land and other improvement thereon, or any combination thereof, whether or not in existence or under construction; and any real or personal property deemed necessary, or related to, or intended for:
(1) The manufacturing, processing, assembling, or warehousing of goods or materials for sale or distribution, but not including raw materials, goods in process or stock-in-trade;
(2) generation of energy by any source;
(3) the production, distribution, storing, and/or collection of water for any use;
(4) use by or for the benefit of local agencies;
(5) use by mercantile or commercial service enterprises;
(6) use for research or development activities;
(7) use as the national or regional headquarters of a multistate business enterprise;
(8) use for tourist or recreational purposes;
(9) for agricultural purposes, or
(10) any combination of the aforementioned activities or purposes.
(j) Local agency.— Shall mean any municipality or political subdivision, or an agency, department or instrumentality of the Commonwealth, or a nonprofit corporation or association, created under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(k) Debtor.— Shall mean the party under a financing agreement (with the exception of the guarantor but including a financial institution), whether he/she be designated lessee, sublessee, purchaser, borrower, mortgager, or has any other designation.
(l) Person.— Shall mean any natural or [juridical] person, including, but without being limited to, any local agency, or any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, trust, joint stock company, association or public or private corporation, organized or existing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States of America or any state, any agency or instrumentality of the United States, or any combination of the above.
(m) Pollutant.— Shall mean any waste from liquid, gaseous or solid substances, as well as thermal or radioactive contaminants, or noise resulting from any agricultural, industrial, commercial, or manufacturing process, a trade or business, or from the development, processing, extraction or recovery of any natural resource found in and on the land, water or air of, or adjacent to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(n) Pollution.— Shall mean the depositing of any pollutant in and on the land, air or water of or adjacent to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or which affects the physical, chemical or biological properties of the land, air or water of or adjacent to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in a manner and to a degree which renders or is likely to render such land, air or water harmful or inimical to the public health, safety and welfare, to the flora, the fauna and to domestic, industrial, agricultural or recreational uses of such land, water or air.
(o) Environmental control facility.— Shall mean any structure, equipment, improvement, facility or system, and any land or any building, structure, facility or improvement thereon, or any combination thereof, whether or not in existence or under construction, or personal or real property deemed necessary or related to the control abatement, or prevention of pollution, and in the case of water pollution control facilities, such property shall include facilities for the treating, neutralizing, stabilizing, cooling, segregating or holding waste or polluted waters, and the sewers, pumps, power plants and other equipment, and devices needed to intercept such waters.
(p) Project.— It shall mean such industrial, tourist, medical, educational or pollution-control or solid-waste disposal facilities the cost of which, or any part thereof, has been financed or refinanced with the proceeds of the bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter.
(q) Recycling.— It shall mean the reuse of substances recovered in manufacturing, agriculture, energy or water production or any other process.
(r) Resources recovery.— Shall mean the processing of solid wastes in such a way as to produce materials or energy which may be used in manufacturing, agriculture, energy production, or for other processes.
(s) Sewage.— It shall mean any substance that contains any of the wastes or excrement or other discharges from the bodies of human beings or animals, together with such ground water or surface water that may filter down and mix therewith; and the mixture of sewage with industrial wastes or other waste shall also be considered as sewage.
(t) Solid waste.— It shall mean garbage, refuse, and other discarded solid materials, including, but not limited to, solid waste materials resulting from industrial, commercial, tourist, agricultural, and residential activity.
(u) Solid waste disposal facility.— Shall mean any facility for disposing of solid waste, the recycling of natural resources, or any plant which is designated primarily for the purpose of reducing the volume of waste which must finally be disposed of, including but not limited to resource recovery plants incinerating, pulverizing, compacting, shredding and baling plants, transfer stations, compost plants, and any other plant which accepts and processes solid waste for recycling, or any other facility intended for recycling, or for the collection, storage, treatment, utilization, processing or final disposal of solid waste, including land used for the ultimate disposal of waste, as well as loading and transportation facilities and equipment used in connection with the processing of solid waste.
(v) Trust agreement.— Shall mean the written instrument establishing the rights and responsibilities of the Authority and of the holders of the bonds issued to finance one or more projects, including a trust agreement or the resolution providing for the bond issue.
(w) Waste water.— Shall mean any water containing sewage or industrial wastes or which is otherwise subject to pollution.
(x) Health care consultant.— Shall mean an independent person having a wide and favorable reputation for skill and experience in the operation of medical facilities.
(y) Medical facilities.— Shall mean any one or more buildings, structures, additions, extensions, improvements or other facilities, whether or not located on the same site or one contiguous to it (including existing facilities), machinery, equipment, furnishings or other real or personal property suitable for use in connection with the supplying of health or medical care, including, but without limitation to, general hospitals for chronic diseases, maternity, mental; tuberculosis sanatoriums and other specialized hospitals; facilities for emergency care, intensive care and self-care; sanitariums; housing for the aged or physically or mentally infirm; clinics; out-patient facilities; rehabilitation centers; alcohol and drug detoxification facilities; clinical, pathological and other laboratories; dialysis centers; hospital research facilities; extended care facilities; skilled nursing home facilities; nursing home facilities; convalescent centers; laundries; residences and training facilities for staff members, including nurses, interns, physicians, dentists, and employees; food preparation and food service facilities; administration buildings, central service and other administrative facilities; communication, computer and other electronic facilities; fire control facilities; pharmaceutical and recreational facilities; storage space, X-ray, radiotherapy, therapy and laser beams and other apparatus and equipment; dispensaries; utilities; vehicular parking lots and garages; office facilities for hospital staff members, physicians and dentists; and such other health and medical facilities customarily under the jurisdiction of or provided by hospitals; and extended care, outpatient, and convalescent facilities, and facilities for the aged or physically or mentally infirm, or any combination of the foregoing, with all necessary, convenient and/or related interests in land, machinery, apparatus, electrical appliances, equipment, furnishings, appurtenances, site preparation, landscaping and physical amenities.
(z) Educational facilities.— Shall mean one or more buildings, structures, additions, extensions, improvements or other facilities, whether or not they are located in the same place or next to it (including the existing facilities), machinery, equipment, furniture or other moveable or real property which is adequate to be used to provide education by an educational institution. In the case of higher education institutions, they shall be duly accredited by the Council on Higher Education under §§ 2111 et seq. of Title 18, and in the case of pre-school, elementary, secondary, vocational, technical, high skills educational institutions, they shall likewise hold the authorization or renewal license issued by the Department of Education pursuant to §§ 2111 et seq. of Title 18.
(aa) User.— Shall mean any person who has obtained or is in the process of obtaining financing for a project, whether from the Authority or from a financial institution who has obtained or is in the process of obtaining funds from the Authority to grant loans to said person to be used for the total or partial payment of the costs of a project.
(bb) Financial institution.— Shall mean any bank, trust company, savings bank, financial institution, local agency or any other person approved by the Authority to participate in the financing of projects and who has agreed to grant loans to users for the financing of all or part of the costs of one or more projects.
(cc) Tourist facilities.— It shall mean a group of buildings, structures, additions, expansions, improvements, or other facilities, whether or not located in the same place or adjoining the same (including existing facilities), machinery, equipment, furnishings, or any other real, personal, or intangible property used as or as part of business where any component enjoys a tax exemption pursuant to §§ 6001 et seq. of Title 23, known as the “Tourism Development Act of 1993”, or any other act amending, supplementing, or substituting said act. Those buildings, structures, additions, expansions, improvements, and/or other facilities that serve or are needed for the good use, operation, maintenance, and/or development of a business where any component enjoys a tax exemption pursuant to the aforesaid Act shall also be considered tourist facilities, insofar as the Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company certifies to the Authority that these should be considered to be tourist facilities for the purposes of this chapter.
History —June 27, 1977, No. 121, p. 310, § 3; June 12, 1978, No. 48, p. 152, § 3; July 12, 1985, No. 102, p. 335, § 4; July 28, 1988, No. 139, p. 579, § 4; Sept. 10, 1993, No. 79, § 2; Sept. 27, 1994, No. 111, § 1; Aug. 12, 1995, No. 195, § 1; Dec. 16, 2009, No. 163, § 1; Dec. 16, 2009, No. 180, § 2.