Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0690-01-01-.02 - DEFINITIONS

(1) The following terms shall have the meanings set forth in this rule:

(a) "Accredited" means approved by a recognized accrediting board or association on a regional, state, or national level, such as a State Board of Education or Health, the American Hospital Association, a regional or national accrediting association for universities, colleges or secondary schools or other recognized accrediting association.

(b) "Approved" means recognition and approval by the State Department of Education, State Department of Health or other appropriate authority. With respect to an education institution, approval must relate to academic or instructional standards. An educational institution may be considered as approved if its credits are accepted by accredited or state approved institutions, or if it meets the academic or instructional standards prescribed for public schools in the state.

(c) "Child care center" means a public or nonprofit facility where day care services, such as educational, social, health and nutritional services, are provided to children through age 14, and which is approved or licensed by the State or other appropriate authority.

(d) "Clinic" means an approved public or nonprofit facility organized and operated for the primary purpose of providing outpatient public health services and includes customary related services such as laboratories and treatment rooms.

(e) "College" means an approved or accredited public or nonprofit institution of higher learning offering organized study course and credits leading to a baccalaureate or higher degree.

(f) "Conservation" means a program or programs carried out or promoted by a public agency for public purposes involving directly or indirectly the protection, maintenance, development, and restoration of the natural resources of a given political area. Such resources include but are not limited to the air, land, forests, water, rivers, streams, lakes and ponds, minerals, and animals, fish, and other wildlife.

(g) "Economic development" means a program or programs carried out or promoted by a public agency for public purposes which involve directly or indirectly efforts to improve the opportunities of a given political area for the successful establishment or expansion of industrial, commercial, or agricultural plants or facilities, and which otherwise assist in the creation of long term employment opportunities in the area, or primarily benefit the unemployed or those with low incomes.

(h) "Education" means a program or programs to develop and promote the training, general knowledge or academic, technical and vocational skills, and cultural attainments of individuals in a community or other given political area. Such programs may be conducted by schools, including pre-school activities and child care centers, colleges, universities, schools for the mentally retarded or physically handicapped, educational radio and television stations, libraries and museums. Public educational programs may include public school systems and such supportive facilities as centralized administrative or service facilities.

(i) "Educational institutions" means an otherwise eligible public or nonprofit institution, facility, entity, or organization conducting educational programs, including research for any such programs, such as a child care center, school, college, university, school for the mentally retarded, school for the physically handicapped, educational radio or television station, museum or library.

(j) "Educational radio station" means a radio station licensed by the Federal Communication Commission and operated exclusively for non-commercial educational purposes and which is public or nonprofit and tax exempt under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

(k) "Educational television station" means a television station licensed by the Federal Communication Commission and operated exclusively for non-commercial educational purposes and which is public or nonprofit and tax exempt under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

(l) "Health center" means an approved public or nonprofit facility utilized by a health unit for the provision of public health services, including related facilities such as diagnostic and laboratory facilities and clinics.

(m) "Hospital" means an approved or accredited public nonprofit institution providing public health services primarily for inpatient medical or surgical care of the sick and injured and includes related facilities such as laboratories, out-patient departments, training facilities and staff offices.

(n) "Library" means a public or nonprofit facility providing library services free to all residents of a community, district, State or region.

(o) "Medical institution" means an otherwise eligible public or nonprofit institution, facility, entity, or organization which has for its primary function the furnishing of public health and medical services to the public at large or the promotion of public health through the conduct of research for any such purposes, experiments, training or demonstrations relating to causes, prevention, and methods of diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries. The term includes but is not limited to hospitals, clinics, alcoholic and drug abuse treatment centers, public health or treatment centers, research and health centers, geriatric center laboratories, medical schools, dental schools, nursing schools and similar institutions. The term does not include those institutions primarily engaged in domiciliary care although a separable medical facility within such a domiciliary institution may qualify as a "medical institution."

(p) "Museum" means a public or nonprofit facility which is attended by the public free or at a nominal charge, and which provides museum services including the preservation and exhibition of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific objects.

(q) "Nonprofit" institution means an educational or public health institution or organization, no part of the net earnings of which inures or may lawfully inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, and which has been held to be tax exempt under the provisions of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

(r) "Park and recreation" means a program or programs carried out or promoted by a public agency for public purposes which involves directly or indirectly the acquisition, development, improvement, maintenance and protection of park and recreational facilities for the residents of a given political area. Such facilities include but are not limited to parks, play grounds and athletic fields, swimming pools, golf courses, nature facilities and nature trails.

(s) "Public health" means a program or programs to promote, maintain and conserve the public's health by providing health services to individuals and by the conduct of research, investigations, examination, training and demonstrations. Public health services may include but are not limited to the control of communicable diseases, immunization, maternal and child care health programs, sanitary engineering, sewage treatment and disposal, and sanitation inspection and supervision, water purification and distribution, air pollution control, garbage and trash disposal, and the control of and elimination of disease-carrying animals and insects.

(t) "Public health institution" means an otherwise eligible public or nonprofit institution, facility, entity or organization conducting a public health program or programs such as a hospital, clinic, health center, or medical institution, including research for any such program, and whose services are available to the public at large.

(u) "Public safety" means a program or programs carried out or promoted by a public agency for public purposes involving, directly or indirectly, the protection, safety, law enforcement activities, and criminal justice system of a given political area. Public safety programs may include but are not limited to those carried out by public police departments, sheriffs' offices, the courts, penal and correctional institutions including juvenile facilities, State and civil defense organizations, fire departments and rescue squads, including volunteer fire departments and rescue squads supported in whole or in part with public funds.

(v) "Public purpose" means a program or programs carried out by a public agency which are legally authorized in accordance with the laws of the State or political subdivision thereof and for which public funds may be expended. Public purposes include but are not limited to programs such as conservation, economic development, education, parks and recreation, public health and safety.

(w) "School" (excepting schools for the mentally retarded and schools for the physically handicapped) means a public or nonprofit approved or accredited organizational entity devoted primarily to approved academic, vocational , or professional study and instruction, which operates primarily for educational purposes on a full-time basis for a minimum school year, and employs a full-time staff of qualified instructors.

(x) "School for the mentally retarded" means a facility or institution operated primarily to provide specialized instruction to students of limited mental capacity. It must be public or nonprofit and must operate on a full-time basis for the equivalent of a minimum school year prescribed for public school instruction of the mentally retarded, with a staff of qualified instructors, and demonstrate that the facility meets the health and safety standards of the State or local government body.

(y) "School for the physically handicapped" means a school organized primarily to provide specialized instruction to students whose physical handicaps necessitate individual or group instruction. The school must be public or nonprofit and such a school must operate on a full-time basis for the equivalent of a minimum school year prescribed for public school instruction for the physically handicapped, with a staff of qualified instructors, and demonstrate that the facility meets the health and safety standards of the State or local governmental body.

(z) "State agency" means the Department of General Services, Federal Property Utilization Division.

(aa) "University" means a public or nonprofit approved or accredited institution for the instruction and study in the higher branches of learning and which is empowered to confer degrees in special departments or colleges.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0690-01-01-.02