Each word or term defined in this Article has the meaning indicated in this section, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context.

(1)        Annual gross volume. – The gross receipts a person or passenger tramway receives from all types of sales made and business done during a 12-month period.

(2)        Commissioner. – The Commissioner of Labor of the State of North Carolina.

(3)        Industry. – Activities of all those persons in the State who own, manage, or direct the operation of passenger tramways.

(4)        Operator. – Any person, firm, corporation, or organization which owns, manages, or directs the operation of a passenger tramway. “Operator” may apply to the State or any political subdivision or instrumentality thereof.

(5)        Owner. – Any person or authorized agent of such person who owns a passenger tramway or, in the event the passenger tramway is leased, the lessee. The term owner shall also include the State of North Carolina or any political subdivision thereof or any unit of local government.

(6)        Passenger tramway. – A device used to transport passengers uphill on skis, or in cars on tracks, or suspended in the air by the use of steel cables, chains or belts, or by ropes, and usually supported by trestles or towers with one or more spans. The term includes any of the following devices:

a.         Chairlift. – A type of transportation on which passengers are carried on chairs suspended in the air and attached to a moving cable, chain or link belt supported by trestles or towers with one or more spans, or similar devices.

a1.       Conveyor. – A type of transportation on which passengers are transported uphill on a flexible moving element (conveyor belt) that travels uphill on one path and generally returns underneath the uphill portion.

a2.       Funicular. – A system in which passengers are transported in or on carriers that are supported and guided by a level or inclined guideway and propelled by means of a haul rope or other flexible element that is driven by a power unit remaining essentially at a single location.

a3.       Gondola. – An enclosed cabin attached to a cable that mechanically transports people or cargo.

b.         J bar, T bar, or platter pull. – Devices which pull skiers riding on skis by means of an attachment to a main overhead cable supported by trestles or towers with one or more spans.

c.         Multicar aerial passenger tramway. – A device used to transport passengers in several open or in closed cars attached to, and suspended from, a moving wire rope or attached to a moving wire rope and supported on a standing wire rope, or similar device.

d.         Rope tow. – A type of transportation which pulls the skiers, riding on skis as the skier grasps the rope manually, or similar device.

e.         Skimobile. – A device in which a passenger car running on steel or wooden tracks is attached to and pulled by a steel cable, or similar device.

f.          Two-car aerial passenger tramway. – A device used to transport passengers in two open or enclosed cars attached to, and suspended from, a moving wire rope or attached to a moving wire rope and supported on a standing wire rope or similar device.

(7)        Person. – Any individual, association, partnership, firm, corporation, private organization, or the State of North Carolina or any political subdivision thereof or any unit of local government. ?(1969, c. 1021; 2005-347, s. 1; 2017-211, s. 14(b).)