§ 54-3-103 — Chapter definitions

As used in this chapter: (1) "Ancillary agreements" means contracts or agreements facilitating the issuance and sale of bonds, including contracts or agreements providing for liquidity and credit enhancement and reimbursement agreements relating to the contracts or agreements providing for liquidity and credit enhancement; (2) "Availability payments" means payments by a public entity to a private entity in connection with the development, maintenance, or operation of a user fee facility pursuant to a franchise agreement, concession agreement, or a combination of those agreements; (3) "Bonds" means bonds, notes, renewal notes, refunding bonds, interim certificates, certificates of indebtedness, debentures, warrants, commercial paper, or other obligations or other evidence of indebtedness or evidence of borrowed money issued or entered into by or on behalf of the department to finance user fee facility projects; (4) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of transportation; (5) "Concession agreement" means an agreement between a public entity and a private entity, or a consortium of private entities, under which the private entity or consortium accepts responsibility for the design, construction, financing, operation, or maintenance of a user fee facility for a period of years, collects revenues from the user fee facility for that period, and accepts the risk of revenues being sufficient to support the private entity's or consortium's capital, operations, and maintenance costs for the user fee facility; (6) "Department" means the department of transportation; (7) "Develop" or "development" means a portion of the process of bringing a user fee facility project to completion, including, but not limited to, planning, feasibility analysis, environmental evaluation, preliminary engineering, design, acquisition of rights-of-way, relocation of utilities, permitting, environmental mitigation, contracting, funding, and construction; (8) "Facility" means a highway, bridge, tunnel, parking lot or garage, or other paved surface or structure that is designed to carry or contain land transportation vehicles, or another transportation-related facility; (9) "Franchise agreement" means an agreement between a public entity and a private entity, or a consortium of private entities, under which the private entity or consortium accepts responsibility for the design, construction, operation, or maintenance of a user fee facility for a period of years in exchange for payment from the public entity, which may include, but is not limited to, periodic availability payments from the public entity; (10) "General purpose lane" means a traffic lane other than a high occupancy vehicle lane or other managed lane that is available for use by motorists without the payment of a user fee; (11) "Hedging agreements" means interest rate swap or exchange agreements, agreements establishing interest rate floors or ceilings, or both, and other interest rate hedging agreements relating to bonds; (12) "High occupancy user fee lane" means a high occupancy vehicle lane that may be used by an operator of a vehicle carrying fewer than the number of persons specified for the high occupancy vehicle lane if the operator pays a user fee; (13) "High occupancy vehicle lane" or "HOV lane" has the same meaning as defined in § 55-8-188 ; (14) "Managed lane" means a highway lane where operational strategies are proactively implemented and operated in response to changing traffic conditions, including, but not limited to, a user fee lane, high occupancy vehicle lane, or high occupancy user fee lane; (15) "Open road user fee system" means a system for the collection of user fees via electronic means without the use of physical payment booths; (16) "Operate" or "operation" means activity associated with the management, operation, and maintenance of a completed user fee project, including, but not limited to, collecting user fees; installing, repairing, or replacing equipment; maintaining, repairing, or improving the user fee facility; paying debt service on bonds, amounts payable under hedging agreements and ancillary agreements and other costs related thereto; paying salaries, benefits, and other costs of employees or employment necessary to the operation of the user fee facility, including the collection of user fees using an open road user fee system or other means and the payment of costs of operation and debt service; contracting or administering contracts related to any such activity; and funding or financing any such activity; (17) "State funding board" means the state funding board established in § 9-9-101 ; (18) "State user fee fund" or "fund" means each separate fund established in this chapter, or all such funds, as the context may require, and includes accounts and subaccounts in the fund or funds; (19) "Transportation modernization board" or "board" means the board established in this chapter; (20) "User fee" means a fee or charge for the use of a user fee facility; (21) "User fee facility" means a facility where the development or operation of the facility is wholly or partially funded with user fees; (22) "User fee facility development agreement": (A) Means a contractual agreement between the department and a local governmental entity, other public entity, or a private entity that provides for the development, construction, reconstruction, financing, acquisition, maintenance, or operation of a user fee facility, or a combination thereof; and (B) Includes, but is not limited to: (i) Preliminary development agreements; (ii) Design or construction agreements; (iii) Operation or maintenance service agreements; (iv) Franchise agreements, concession agreements, or a combination of those agreements; (v) Agreements for the enforcement of user fees; and (vi) Agreements between the department and a local governmental entity or other public entity to participate jointly in any of the agreements in this subdivision (22)(B); (23) "User fee facility project" means a capital project involving the development or operation of a user fee facility; (24) "User fee lane" means a highway lane that may be used by an operator of a vehicle if the operator pays a user fee; and (25) "User fee revenue" means revenues or moneys received from the collection of user fees; from a lease, concession, franchise, license, or other agreement for the right to operate all or part of a user fee facility or an appurtenant facility; and other revenues or moneys received from the operation of a user fee facility.

Legislative History

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 159, s 18, eff. 4/17/2023. Acts 2007 , ch. 597, § 4.