Terms Used In California Codes > Government Code > Title 2 > Division 1 > Chapter 7.4 - Oil Spill Response and Contingency Planning

• acquire: includes , but is not restricted to, taking by condemnation, purchase, or lease and receiving by donation or dedication. See California Public Resources Code 13070.1
• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• act: as used in this division , means the Improvement Bond Act of 1915. See California Streets and Highways Code 9517
• Advertising medium: includes banner, sign, placard, poster, streamer, and card. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• agency shop: means an arrangement that requires an employee, as a condition of continued employment, either to join the recognized employee organization, or to pay the organization a service fee in an amount not to exceed the standard initiation fee, periodic dues, and general assessments of that organization for the duration of the agreement or for a period of three years from the effective date of the agreement, whichever comes first. See California Government Code 71814
• 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.
• Annual percentage rate: The cost of credit at a yearly rate. It is calculated in a standard way, taking the average compound interest rate over the term of the loan so borrowers can compare loans. Lenders are required by law to disclose a card account's APR. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• antiknock index number: when used in this chapter, means that number assigned to a spark-ignition engine fuel that designates the antiknock quality. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• assessed value: means 25 percent of full value to, and including, the 1980-81 fiscal year, and 100 percent of full value for the 1981-82 fiscal year and fiscal years thereafter. See California Government Code 25
• Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
• Automotive spark-ignition engine fuel: means a product used for the generation of power in a spark-ignition internal combustion engine. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• board: means any entity listed in Section 101, the entities referred to in Sections 1000 and 3600, the State Bar, the Department of Real Estate, and any other state agency that issues a license, certificate, or registration authorizing a person to engage in a business or profession. See California Business and Professions Code 31
• Bona fide association: means an organization of employees and former employees of an agency of the state and the California State University, and which does not have as one of its purposes representing these employees in their employer-employee relations. See California Government Code 1150
• Card issuer: means any person who issues a credit card or the agent of that person for that purpose with respect to the credit card. See California Civil Code 1747.02
• Cardholder: means a natural person to whom a credit card is issued for consumer credit purposes, or a natural person who has agreed with the card issuer to pay consumer credit obligations arising from the issuance of a credit card to another natural person. See California Civil Code 1747.02
• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• center: means the California Habeas Corpus Resource Center, and "board" means the board of directors of the center. See California Government Code 68660
• Charged-off consumer debt: means a consumer debt that has been removed from a creditor's books as an asset and treated as a loss or expense. See California Civil Code 1788.50
• check casher: means a person or entity that for compensation engages, in whole or in part, in the business of cashing checks, warrants, drafts, money orders, or other commercial paper serving the same purpose. See California Civil Code 1789.31
• City: includes city and county. See California Business and Professions Code 18
• City: includes "city and county" and "incorporated town. See California Streets and Highways Code 15
• Commissioner: means any county agricultural commissioner. See California Food and Agricultural Code 26
• Committee membership: Legislators are assigned to specific committees by their party. Seniority, regional balance, and political philosophy are the most prominent factors in the committee assignment process.
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Communication: means the conveyance of any information regarding a debt, credit record, credit history, or credit rating, directly or indirectly, to any person by any means or through any medium. See California Civil Code 1789.12
• Compression-ignition engine fuel: means a product used for the generation of power in a compression-ignition internal combustion engine. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Construction: includes :

  California Streets and Highways Code 29

• Consumer: means any natural person who is solicited to purchase or who purchases the services of a credit services organization. See California Civil Code 1789.12
• County: includes city and county. See California Business and Professions Code 17
• County: includes "city and county. See California Streets and Highways Code 14
• County: includes city and county. See California Food and Agricultural Code 29
• Credit card: means any card, plate, coupon book, or other single credit device existing for the purpose of being used from time to time upon presentation to obtain money, property, labor, or services on credit. See California Civil Code 1747.02
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit services organization: means a person who, with respect to the extension of credit by others, sells, provides, or performs, or represents that the person can or will sell, provide, or perform, any of the following services, in return for the payment of money or other valuable consideration:

  California Civil Code 1789.12

• Debt buyer: means a person or entity that is regularly engaged in the business of purchasing charged-off consumer debt for collection purposes, whether it collects the debt itself, hires a third party for collection, or hires an attorney-at-law for collection litigation. See California Civil Code 1788.50
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Food and Agriculture. See California Food and Agricultural Code 32
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Developmental engine fuel: means an engine fuel that does not meet standards established by this chapter but has characteristics that may lead to an improved fuel standard or the development of an alternative fuel standard. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Diesel fuel: means any hydrocarbon oil meant for combustion in compression-ignition engines offered for sale that meets the standards for diesel fuel prescribed by this chapter. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Digital signature: means an electronic identifier, created by computer, intended by the party using it to have the same force and effect as the use of a manual signature. See California Government Code 16.5
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• district: means any agency of the state formed pursuant to general law or special act, for the local performance of governmental or proprietary functions within limited boundaries. See California Government Code 1090
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Employee organization: means an organization which represents employees of a public employer and that has been recognized or certified by the public employer or the Public Employment Relations Board as the exclusive representative of the employees. See California Government Code 1150
• Engine fuel: means any gasoline, diesel, or alternative fuel used for the generation of power in an internal combustion engine or fuel cell in a motor vehicle, or electrical power delivered conductively or inductively to an electric motor in electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Extension of credit: means the right to defer payment of debt or to incur debt and defer its payment, offered or granted primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. See California Civil Code 1789.12
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a set of United States statutes added as Title VIII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act. Its purpose is to ensure ethical practices in the collection of consumer debts and to provide consumers with an avenue for disputing and obtaining validation of debt information in order to ensure the information's accuracy. It is often used in conjunction with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fuel oil: means any product offered for sale that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat and meets the standards prescribed for fuel oil by this chapter. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Gasoline: means a volatile mixture of liquid hydrocarbons, generally containing small amounts of additives, suitable for use as a fuel in a spark-ignition internal combustion engine. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Gasoline-oxygenate blend: means a fuel consisting primarily of gasoline along with a substantial amount of one or more oxygenates that meets ASTM International Standard D4814. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• gift certificate: includes gift cards, but does not include any gift card usable with multiple sellers of goods or services, provided the expiration date, if any, is printed on the card. See California Civil Code 1749.45
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• highway: includes bridges, culverts, curbs, drains, and all works incidental to highway construction, improvement, and maintenance. See California Streets and Highways Code 23
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Kerosene: means a fuel offered for sale that meets the standards for kerosene prescribed in this chapter. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• law: means any federal law relating to internal revenue. See California Government Code 1170
• license: means license, certificate, registration, or other means to engage in a business or profession regulated by this code or referred to in Section 1000 or 3600. See California Business and Professions Code 23.7
• Licensee: means any person authorized by a license, certificate, registration, or other means to engage in a business or profession regulated by this code or referred to in Sections 1000 and 3600. See California Business and Professions Code 23.8
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Local agency: as used in this article , means a county, city, city and county, political subdivision, district, or municipal corporation. See California Government Code 1125
• Lubricant: means a lubricating oil or other substance that reduces friction and wear between moving parts within an engine and other motor vehicle components. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Lubricating oil: means motor oil, engine lubricant, engine oil, lubricating axle oil, gear oil, or manual transmission fluid. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• maintenance: includes any of the following:

  California Streets and Highways Code 27

• Manufacturer: means manufacturer, refiner, producer, or importer. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See California Civil Code 14
• motor oil: means any product used to lubricate the moving parts of an internal combustion engine. See California Business and Professions Code 13430
• Motor oil: means an oil that reduces friction and wear between the moving parts within an internal combustion engine and also serves as a coolant. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• motor oil dealer: means any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of producing, packaging, or otherwise preparing motor oil for market, or selling or distributing motor oil. See California Business and Professions Code 13430
• Motor vehicle fuel: means "engine fuel" when that term is used in this chapter. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Noxious weed seed: means the seed or propagule of any species of noxious weed, as defined in Section 5004. See California Food and Agricultural Code 52256
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Open-end credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or revolving credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Person: means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, organization, limited liability company, or business trust. See California Streets and Highways Code 19
• Person: includes an individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, or any business entity. See California Civil Code 1789.12
• Person: means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company, or any organized group of persons whether incorporated or not. See California Food and Agricultural Code 38
• personal property: include money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See California Civil Code 14
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public agency: includes counties, cities, municipal corporations, political subdivisions, public districts, and other public agencies of the state. See California Government Code 1150
• public body: means any county, city and county, city, municipal corporation, political subdivision, school district, or any other public district or public corporation, any public authority, or any agency of any thereof. See California Government Code 1101
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Public employer: means the state, the Regents of the University of California, the Trustees of the California State University and the California State University, the Judicial Council, a trial court, a county, city, district, public authority, including transit district, public agency, or any other political subdivision or public corporation of the state, except as provided in paragraph (2). See California Government Code 1150
• public securities: means any issue of bonds, notes, warrants, or other evidences of indebtedness and the interest coupons, if any, attached thereto, issued by any public body. See California Government Code 1100
• Qualified representative of the commissioner: means a deputy commissioner or inspector who holds an appropriate certificate of qualification issued by the director as provided in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 2101) of Division 2 of this code. See California Food and Agricultural Code 39
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• remote interest: means any of the following:

  California Government Code 1091

• Renewable diesel fuel: means a diesel fuel derived from nonpetroleum renewable resources. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Retailer: means every person other than a card issuer who furnishes money, goods, services, or anything else of value upon presentation of a credit card by a cardholder. See California Civil Code 1747.02
• Revolving credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or open-end credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Food and Agriculture. See California Food and Agricultural Code 35
• Secured credit card: means any credit card issued under an agreement or other instrument that pledges, hypothecates, or places a lien on real property or money or other personal property to secure the cardholder's obligations to the card issuer. See California Civil Code 1747.02
• Sell: includes offer for sale, expose for sale, possess for sale, exchange, barter, or trade. See California Food and Agricultural Code 44
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• spouse: includes a registered domestic partner, as required by §. See California Civil Code 14
• Spouse: includes "registered domestic partner" as required by §. See California Government Code 12.2
• Standard test: means a test conducted in accordance with the latest published standard adopted by ASTM International. See California Business and Professions Code 13400
• State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Business and Professions Code 21
• state agency: includes every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, and commission. See California Government Code 11000
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs, unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Business and Professions Code 15
• Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Food and Agricultural Code 49
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
• Variable Rate: Having a "variable" rate means that the APR changes from time to time based on fluctuations in an external rate, normally the Prime Rate. This external rate is known as the "index." If the index changes, the variable rate normally changes. Also see Fixed Rate.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.