§ 124-A:2 — Definitions

In this chapter:
I. "Acquiring agency" means any organization or person who has the authority to acquire property by eminent domain under state law.
II. "Business" means any lawful activity, except a farm operation, conducted primarily:
(a) For the purchase, sale, lease and/or rental of personal and real property, and for the manufacture, processing, or marketing of products, commodities, or any other personal property;
(b) For the sale of services to the public;
(c) By a nonprofit organization; or
(d) Solely for the purposes of RSA 124-A:3 for assisting in the purchase, sale, resale, manufacture, processing, or marketing of products, commodities, personal property, or services by the erection and maintenance of an outdoor advertising display or displays, whether or not such display or displays are located on the premises on which any of above activities are conducted.
III. "Comparable replacement dwelling" means any dwelling that is:
(a) Decent, safe, and sanitary;
(b) Adequate in size to accommodate the occupants;
(c) Within the financial means of the displaced person;
(d) Functionally equivalent;
(e) In an area not subject to unreasonable adverse environmental conditions; and
(f) In a location generally not less desirable than the location of the displaced person's dwelling with respect to public utilities, facilities, services, and the displaced person's place of employment.
IV. "Displaced person" means, except as provided in subparagraph (b):
(a)(1) Any person who moves from real property, or moves his personal property from real property:
(A) As a direct result of a written notice of intent to acquire or the acquisition of such real property in whole or in part for a program or project undertaken by a displacing agency; or
(B) On which such person is a residential tenant or conducts a small business, a farm operation, or a business defined in 124-A:2, II, as a direct result of rehabilitation, demolition, or such other displacing activity as may occur under a program or project undertaken by a displacing agency in any case in which the displacing agency determines that such displacement is permanent; and
(2) Solely for the purposes of RSA 124-A:3, I and II and RSA 124-A:7, any person who moves from real property, or moves his personal property from real property; and
(A) As a direct result of a written notice of intent to acquire or the acquisition of other real property, in whole or in part, on which such person conducts a business or farm operation, for a program or project undertaken by a displacing agency; or
(B) As a direct result of rehabilitation, demolition, or such other displacing activity as any displacing agency may prescribe, of other real property on which such person conducts a business or farm operation, under a program or project undertaken by said displacing agency where the displacing agency determines that such displacement is permanent.
(b) The term "displaced person" does not include any person who has been determined, according to criteria established by the lead agency, to be either unlawfully occupying the displacement dwelling or to have occupied such dwelling for the purpose of obtaining assistance under this chapter. Nor does it include, in any case in which the displacing agency acquires property for a program or project, any person (other than a person who was an occupant of such property at the time it was acquired) who occupies such property on a rental basis for a short term or a period subject to termination when the property is needed for the program or project.
V. "Displacing agency" means the state or a state agency carrying out a program or project, or any person carrying out a program or project with federal financial assistance, or state financial assistance, which causes a person to be a displaced person.
VI. "Farm operation" means any activity conducted solely or primarily for the production of one or more agricultural products or commodities, including timber, for sale or home use, and customarily producing such products or commodities in sufficient quantity to be capable of contributing materially to the operator's support.
VII. "Federal financial assistance" means a grant, loan, or contribution provided by the United States, except any federal guarantee or insurance, and any interest reduction payment to an individual in connection with the purchase and occupancy of a residence by that individual.
VIII. "Lead agency" means the New Hampshire department of transportation as designated by the governor on March 10, 1988, or any agency subsequently designated by the governor under RSA 124-A:9, III.
IX. "Mortgage" means such classes of liens as are commonly given to secure advances on, or the unpaid purchase price of, real property, under the laws of the state in which the real property is located, together with the credit instruments, if any, secured thereby.
X. "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, or association.
XI. "State agency" means any department, agency, or instrumentality of the state or of a political subdivision of the state; any department, agency, or instrumentality of 2 or more states or of 2 or more political subdivisions of the state or states; and any person who has the authority to acquire property by eminent domain under state law.

Legislative History

1989, 147:1, eff. May 17, 1989.