As used in this chapter, the term:

(1) "Agency" means the Public Service Commission, the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Human Resources.

(2) "Entity" means:

(A) With respect to the Public Service Commission, without exclusion, all utility service providers in the following categories: investor owned electric companies, electric membership corporations, municipal electric systems, investor owned natural gas local distribution companies, municipal natural gas systems, natural gas marketers, incumbent local exchange telecommunications companies, competitive local exchange telecommunications companies, interexchange telecommunications companies, and other telecommunications common carriers, but excluding long-distance telecommunications resellers, pay phone service providers, natural gas master meter operators, housing authorities, wireless telecommunications companies, water and waste-water utility service providers, and cable companies;

(B) With respect to the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources:

(i) Waste-water treatment facilities as defined in Chapter 391-3-6.02(2)(d) of the Georgia Rules for Water Quality;

(ii) Water treatment systems as defined in Chapter 391-3-0.02 of the Georgia Rules for Safe Drinking Water;

(iii) Entities operating air-cleaning devices as defined in Code Section 12-9-3; and

(iv) Hazardous waste treatment systems which include any method, process, or equipment which treats, removes, reduces, recycles, or renders less noxious any substance defined in applicable state rules and regulations for hazardous waste management as a hazardous waste; and

(C) With respect to the Department of Human Resources:

(i) Any facility licensed under Code Section 31-13-8.2 to use radioactive materials or radiation generating equipment for diagnostic and therapeutic medical uses;

(ii) Ambulatory surgical or obstetrical facilities as defined in Code Section 31-6-2;

(iii) Clinical laboratories as defined in Code Section 31-22-1;

(iv) Emergency medical services and ambulance services as defined in Code Section 31-11-2;

(v) Health maintenance organizations and managed health care plans as defined in Chapters 20A and 21 of Title 33; (vi) Home health agencies as defined in Code Section 31-7-150;

(vii) Hospices as defined in Code Section 31-7-172;

(viii) Institutions as defined in Code Section 31-7-1;

(ix) Intermediate care facilities as defined in Code Section 31-6-2;

(x) Private home care providers as defined in Code Section 31-7-300;

(xi) Nursing homes as defined in Code Section 43-27-1; and

(xii) Personal care homes as defined in Code Section 31-7-12.

(3) "Essential service" means any service the loss or interruption of which directly threatens the health, safety, or economic well-being of the people of the state.

(4) "Year 2000" means the calendar year commencing immediately after the hour of 12:00 Midnight of December 31, 1999.

(5) "Year 2000 compliance" means that the software, application, hardware, firmware, equipment, embedded chip, or other applicable item which is represented to be Year 2000 compliant (the "item"):

(A) Is able, without delay, error, invalid or incorrect results, premature endings, or interruption, to consistently and correctly recognize, handle, accept, sort, manipulate, calculate, display, store, retrieve, access, compare, and process date, year, and time data and information before, between, during, and after January 1, 1999, September 9, 1999, December 31, 1999, January 1, 2000, February 29, 2000, March 1, 2000, and any other date after December 31, 1999 (all of the foregoing being collectively defined as the "relevant dates"), including, but not limited to, accepting any date, year, or time data and performing calculations or other operations or functions on dates, years, or times or portions of dates, years, or times, without delay, error, invalid or incorrect results, premature endings, or interruption;

(B) Before, between, during, and after any of the relevant dates, functions accurately in accordance with any applicable specifications or documentation and without delay, interruption, premature endings, error, invalid or incorrect results, or changes in operations associated with the occurrence of any of the relevant dates or the advent of any new century, year, leap year, or any other date, year, or time related matter;

(C) Consistently and accurately responds to, stores, and provides output of two-digit year data or six-digit date data and properly resolves any ambiguity as to century or year;

(D) Will not be adversely affected in any manner by the advent of the Year 2000 or the passing or transition of any year, century, or other relevant date;

(E) Has been designed to accommodate same century and multicentury formulas and date values and date data interface values that reflect the century; and

(F) Consistently, correctly, accurately, unambiguously, and without delay, error, invalid or incorrect results, premature endings, or interruption receives, provides, processes, and interfaces date, year, and time data between all items and all other software, applications, hardware, firmware, equipment, embedded chip, or other applicable items.