(i) Until February 1, 2009, decreasing the flow of a river or stream by part of the index flow such that the river's or stream's ability to support characteristic fish populations is functionally impaired. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

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.

Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.

Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.

Assessment tool: means the water withdrawal assessment tool provided for in section 32706a. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.

ATV: means a vehicle with 3 or more wheels that is designed for off-road use, has low-pressure tires, has a seat designed to be straddled by the rider, and is powered by a 50cc to 1,000cc gasoline engine or an engine of comparable size using other fuels. See Michigan Laws 324.81101

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.

Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}

Code: means the Michigan vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257. See Michigan Laws 324.81101

Cold-transitional river system: means a stream or river that has the appropriate summer water temperature that, based on statewide averages, sustains a fish community composed predominantly of cold-water fish species, and where small increases in water temperature will cause a decline in the proportion of cold-water species, as determined by a scientific methodology adopted by order of the commission. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Commission: means the commission of natural resources. See Michigan Laws 324.301

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.

Community supply: means that term as it is defined in section 2 of the safe drinking water act, 1976 PA 399, MCL 325. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Compact: means the Great Lakes-St. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.

Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.

Consumptive use: means that portion of water withdrawn or withheld from the Great Lakes basin and assumed to be lost or otherwise not returned to the Great Lakes basin due to evaporation, incorporation into products or agricultural products, use as part of the packaging of products or agricultural products, or other processes. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.

Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.

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.

Corrective action: means the investigation, assessment, cleanup, removal, containment, isolation, treatment, or monitoring of regulated substances released into the environment from an underground storage tank system that is necessary under this part to prevent, minimize, or mitigate injury to the public health, safety, or welfare, the environment, or natural resources. See Michigan Laws 324.21302

County road: means a county primary road or county local road as described in section 5 of 1951 PA 51, MCL 247. See Michigan Laws 324.81101

Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.

Decedent: A deceased person.

Department: means the department of environmental quality. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Department: means the director of the department of natural resources or his or her designee to whom the director delegates a power or duty by written instrument. See Michigan Laws 324.301

Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.

Director: means the director of the department of natural resources. See Michigan Laws 324.301

Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.

Diversion: means a transfer of water from the Great Lakes basin into another watershed, or from the watershed of 1 of the Great Lakes into that of another by any means of transfer, including, but not limited to, a pipeline, canal, tunnel, aqueduct, channel, modification of the direction of a water course, tanker ship, tanker truck, or rail tanker but does not apply to water that is used in the Great Lakes basin or a Great Lake watershed to manufacture or produce a product that is then transferred out of the Great Lakes basin or watershed. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Election: means an election or primary election at which the electors of this state or of a subdivision of this state choose or nominate by ballot an individual for public office or decide a ballot question lawfully submitted to them. See Michigan Laws 168.2

Environmentally sound and economically feasible water conservation measures: means those measures, methods, technologies, or practices for efficient water use and for reduction of water loss and waste or for reducing a withdrawal, consumptive use, or diversion that meet all of the following:

  (i) Are environmentally sound. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

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.

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.

Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.

Governing board: means a board of regents, board of trustees, board of governors, board of control, or other governing body of an institution of higher education. See Michigan Laws 15.181

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.

Highway: means a state trunk line highway or a segment of a state trunk line highway. See Michigan Laws 324.81101

Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate.

in writing: shall be construed to include printing, engraving, and lithographing; except that if the written signature of a person is required by law, the signature shall be the proper handwriting of the person or, if the person is unable to write, the person's proper mark, which may be, unless otherwise expressly prohibited by law, a clear and classifiable fingerprint of the person made with ink or another substance. See Michigan Laws 8.3q

Incompatible offices: means public offices held by a public official which, when the official is performing the duties of any of the public offices held by the official, results in any of the following with respect to those offices held:

  (i) The subordination of 1 public office to another. See Michigan Laws 15.181

Institution of higher education: means a college, university, community college, or junior college described in section 4, 5, or 6 of article 8 of the state constitution of 1963 or established under section 7 of article 8 of the state constitution of 1963. See Michigan Laws 15.181

Intrabasin transfer: means a diversion of water from the source watershed of a Great Lake prior to its use to the watershed of another Great Lake. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

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.

Large quantity withdrawal: means 1 or more cumulative total withdrawals of over 100,000 gallons of water per day average in any consecutive 30-day period that supply a common distribution system. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.

Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.

local unit: means a municipality or county. See Michigan Laws 324.301

Manufacturer: means a person that prepares, produces, derives, propagates, compounds, processes, packages, or repackages a drug or device salable on prescription only, or otherwise changes the container or the labeling of a drug or device salable on prescription only, and that supplies, distributes, sells, offers for sale, barters, or otherwise disposes of that drug or device and any other drug or device salable on prescription only, to another person for resale, compounding, or dispensing. See Michigan Laws 333.17706

New or increased withdrawal capacity: means new or additional water withdrawal capacity to supply a common distribution system that is an increase from the person's baseline capacity. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Oath: A promise to tell the truth.

oath: shall be construed to include the word "affirmation" in all cases where by law an affirmation may be substituted for an oath; and in like cases the word "sworn" shall be construed to include the word "affirmed". See Michigan Laws 8.3k

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.

Operate: means to ride in or on, and be in actual physical control of, the operation of an ORV. See Michigan Laws 324.81101

Operator: means a person who is presently, or was at the time of a release, in control of, or responsible for, the operation of an underground storage tank system. See Michigan Laws 324.21303

Operator: means an individual who operates or is in actual physical control of the operation of an ORV. See Michigan Laws 324.81101

ORV safety certificate: means an ORV safety certificate issued under section 81130 or, except as used in section 81130, a comparable safety certificate issued under the authority of another state or province of Canada. See Michigan Laws 324.81101

Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.

Owner: means a person who holds, or at the time of a release who held, a legal, equitable, or possessory interest of any kind in an underground storage tank system or in the property on which an underground storage tank system is or was located including, but not limited to, a trust, vendor, vendee, lessor, or lessee. See Michigan Laws 324.21303

Owner: means any of the following:

  (i) A vendee or lessee of an ORV that is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease of the ORV, with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement, and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee. See Michigan Laws 324.81101

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: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, as well as to individuals. See Michigan Laws 8.3l

Person: means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, governmental entity, or other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 324.301

Personal property: All property that is not real property.

President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.

Preventative measure: means an action affecting a stream or river that prevents an adverse resource impact by diminishing the effect of a withdrawal on stream or river flow or the temperature regime of the stream or river. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Property: means real estate that is contaminated by a release from an underground storage tank system. See Michigan Laws 324.21303

Public employee: means an employee of this state, an employee of a city, village, township, or county of this state, or an employee of a department, board, agency, institution, commission, authority, division, council, college, university, school district, intermediate school district, special district, or other public entity of this state or of a city, village, township, or county in this state, but does not include a person whose employment results from election or appointment. See Michigan Laws 15.181

Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.

Public officer: means a person who is elected or appointed to any of the following:

  (i) An office established by the state constitution of 1963. See Michigan Laws 15.181

qualified elector: as used in this act , means a person who possesses the qualifications of an elector as prescribed in section 1 of article II of the state constitution of 1963 and who has resided in the city or township 30 days. See Michigan Laws 168.10

Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.

Registrant: means a person who has registered a water withdrawal under section 32705. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Regulated substance: means any of the following:

  (i) A substance defined in section 101(14) of title I of the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, Public Law 96-510, 42 USC 9601, but not including a substance regulated as a hazardous waste under subtitle C of the solid waste disposal act, title II of Public Law 89-272, 42 USC 6921 to 6939e. See Michigan Laws 324.21303

Release: means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, or leaching from an underground storage tank system into groundwater, surface water, or subsurface soils. See Michigan Laws 324.21303

Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.

Residence: as used in this act , for registration and voting purposes means that place at which a person habitually sleeps, keeps his or her personal effects, and has a regular place of lodging. See Michigan Laws 168.11

River: means a flowing body of water with a drainage area of 80 or more square miles. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

seal: means a seal of high tensile strength that is approved by the secretary of state under section 36. See Michigan Laws 168.14a

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.

Shall: is a lways mandatory and "may" is always discretionary. See Michigan Laws 206.2

shall not apply: means that the pertinent provision is not operative as to certain persons or things or in conjunction with a particular date or dates. See Michigan Laws 8.4c

Site: means a location where a release has occurred or a threat of release exists from an underground storage tank system, excluding any location where corrective action was completed which satisfies the applicable RBSL or SSTL. See Michigan Laws 324.21303

Site-specific review: means the department's independent review under section 32706c to determine whether the withdrawal is a zone A, zone B, zone C, or zone D withdrawal and whether a withdrawal is likely to cause an adverse resource impact. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Source watershed: means the watershed from which a withdrawal originates. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o

Stream: means a flowing body of water with a drainage area of less than 80 square miles. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Street: means a city or village major street or city or village local street as described in section 9 of 1951 PA 51, MCL 247. See Michigan Laws 324.81101

threatened release: means any circumstance that may reasonably be anticipated to cause a release. See Michigan Laws 324.21303

Underground storage tank system: means a tank or combination of tanks, including underground pipes connected to the tank or tanks, which is, was, or may have been used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, and the volume of which, including the volume of the underground pipes connected to the tank or tanks, is 10% or more beneath the surface of the ground. See Michigan Laws 324.21303

United States: shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o

vehicle: means a motor-driven off-road recreation vehicle capable of cross-country travel without benefit of a road or trail, on or immediately over land, snow, ice, marsh, swampland, or other natural terrain. See Michigan Laws 324.81101

Visual supervision: means the direct observation of the operator with the unaided or normally corrected eye by an observer who is able to come to the immediate aid of the operator. See Michigan Laws 324.81101

Waters of the state: means groundwater, lakes, rivers, and streams and all other watercourses and waters, including the Great Lakes, within the territorial boundaries of the state. See Michigan Laws 324.32701

Withdrawal: means the removal of water from surface water or groundwater. See Michigan Laws 324.32701