71-4-702 - Part definitions.
71-4-702. Part definitions.
As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) Blind means an individual or class of individuals whose central visual acuity does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye with correcting lenses or whose visual acuity, if better than 20/200, is accompanied by a limit to the field of vision in the better eye to such a degree that its widest diameter subtends an angle no greater than twenty degrees (20°);
(2) Central nonprofit agency means the agency designated by the committee to facilitate the distribution, by direct allocation, subcontract or any other means, of orders from state government for commodities and services on the procurement list among work centers for the blind and agencies serving individuals with severe disabilities, and to assist the committee in administering the program described under this part;
(3) Certified commodities or services means:
(A) The commodities produced with value added through manufacturing, repackaging or assembly processes by any work center for the blind or by any agency serving individuals with severe disabilities;
(B) The services provided with value added by any work center for the blind or by any agency serving individuals with severe disabilities; and
(C) Commodities and services that have been recommended by the central nonprofit agency as suitable for procurement by any entity of state government pursuant to this part and that are certified pursuant to procedures approved by the state board of standards as to quality, availability and fair market price;
(4) Committee means the advisory committee for purchase from the blind and other severely disabled, created by § 71-4-703;
(5) Qualified nonprofit agency serving individuals with severe disabilities, refered to as agency serving individuals with severe disabilities in this part, means an agency that:
(A) Is organized under the laws of the United States or of this state, operated in the interest of severely disabled individuals who are not blind, and the net income of which does not inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any shareholder or other individual;
(B) Complies with any applicable occupational safety and health standard prescribed by the secretary of labor of the United States;
(C) In the production of commodities and in the provision of services, whether or not the commodities or services are procured under §§ 71-4-701 71-4-704, during the fiscal year employs blind or other severely disabled individuals for a minimum of seventy-five percent (75%), or in accordance with the percentage of direct labor required under the terms and conditions of P.L. 92-28, or whichever is lesser, of the man-hours of direct labor required for the production or provision of the commodities or services; and
(D) Meets the criteria for determining nonprofit status under the provisions of title 48, chapter 51, part 1, and is registered in good standing with the office of the secretary of state;
(6) Qualified nonprofit work center for the blind, referred to as work center for the blind in this part, means an agency that:
(A) Is organized under the laws of the state, operated in the interest of blind individuals, and the net income of which does not inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any shareholder or other individual;
(B) Complies with the applicable occupational health and safety standards prescribed by the secretary of labor of the United States;
(C) In the production of commodities and the provision of services, whether or not the commodities or services are procured as provided in this part, during the fiscal year employs blind individuals for a minimum of seventy-five percent (75%), or in accordance with the percentage of direct labor required under the terms and conditions of P.L. 92-28, or whichever is lesser, of the man-hours of direct labor required for the production or provision of commodities or services; and
(D) Meets the criteria for determining nonprofit status under the provisions of title 48, chapter 51, part 1, and is registered in good standing with the office of the secretary of state;
(7) Severely disabled and severely disabled individual means an individual or class of individuals with a physical or mental disability other than blindness, which, according to criteria established by rules approved by the committee for purchase from the blind and other severely disabled, after consultation with appropriate entities of the state and taking into account the views of nongovernmental entities representing the disabled, constitutes a substantial impediment to employment and is of such a nature to prevent the individual with such a disability from currently engaging in regular competitive employment; and
(8) Work center or work centers means and includes qualified nonprofit work centers for the blind and qualified nonprofit agencies serving individuals with severe disabilities.
[Acts 1991, ch. 499, § 1; 1996, ch. 827, §§ 2-6, 13; 2002, ch. 526, § 7.]