Terms Used In U.S. Code > Title 43 > Chapter 36 - Outer Continental Shelf Resource Management

• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• area affected by Outer Continental Shelf activities: means any geographic area:

  (A) which is under oil or gas lease on the Outer Continental Shelf. See 43 USC 1841

• association: when used in reference to a corporation, shall be deemed to embrace the words "successors and assigns of such company or association" in like manner as if these last-named words, or words of similar import, were expressed. See 1 USC 5
• citizen of the United States: means any person who is a United States citizen by law, birth, or naturalization, any State, any agency of a State, or a group of States, or any corporation, partnership, or association organized under the laws of any State which has as its president or other chief executive officer and as its chairman of the board of directors, or holder of a similar office, a person who is a United States citizen by law, birth, or naturalization, and which has at least 75 per centum of the interest of ¹ therein owned by citizens of the United States. See 43 USC 1841
• commercial fisherman: means any citizen of the United States who owns, operates, or derives income from being employed on a commercial fishing vessel. See 43 USC 1841
• commercial fishing vessel: means any vessel, boat, ship, or other craft which is (A) documented under the laws of the United States or, if under five net tons, registered under the laws of any State, and (B) used for, equipped to be used for, or of a type which is normally used for commercial purposes for the catching, taking, or harvesting of fish or the aiding or assisting of any activity related to the catching, taking, or harvesting of fish, including, but not limited to, preparation, supply, storage, refrigeration, transportation, or processing. See 43 USC 1841
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the Department of Energy or any component thereof, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. See 42 USC 7101
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• fish: means finfish, mollusks, crustaceans, and all other forms of marine animal and plant life other than marine mammals, birds, and highly migratory species. See 43 USC 1841
• fishing gear: means (A) any commercial fishing vessel, and (B) any equipment of such vessel, whether or not attached to such a vessel. See 43 USC 1841
• function: includes reference to any duty, obligation, power, authority, responsibility, right, privilege, and activity, or the plural thereof, as the case may be. See 42 USC 7101
• Fund: means the Fishermen's Contingency Fund established under section 1842 of this title. See 43 USC 1841
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Commerce or the designee of such Secretary. See 43 USC 1841
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• vessel: includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water. See 1 USC 3
• writing: includes printing and typewriting and reproductions of visual symbols by photographing, multigraphing, mimeographing, manifolding, or otherwise. See 1 USC 1