Title 1 Short Title; Statement of Policy; Definitions; General Provisions
Title 3 Powers and Duties
Title 5 Protection of Water
§ 15-0517 Water quality testing requirements for land clearing debris and compost facilities in Nassau and Suffolk counties
Title 6 Water Efficiency and Reuse
Title 7 Private Rights in Waters
Title 8 Regulation of Reservoir Releases
Title 9 Administrative Procedures for Article 15
Title 11 Local and Regional Water Resources Planning and Development
Title 13 Comprehensive Public Water Supply Studies and Reports
Title 15 Water Supply
Title 17 Water Power
Title 19 Drainage
Title 21 River Regulation by Storage Reservoirs
Title 23 River Improvement
Title 25 Joint River Regulating, River Improvement and Drainage Improvement Districts
Title 27 Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers System
Title 29 Water Resources Management Strategy
Title 31 Groundwater Protection and Remediation Program
Title 33 Source Water Protection Projects

Terms Used In New York Laws > Environmental Conservation > Article 15 - Water Resources

  • Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
  • 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.
  • Agricultural purpose: shall mean the practice of farming for crops, plants, vines and trees, and the keeping, grazing, or feeding of livestock for sale of livestock or livestock products, and the on-farm processing of crops, livestock and livestock products. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • Allegation: something that someone says happened.
  • 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.
  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Bequest: Property gifted by will.
  • Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
  • Coastal communities: shall mean those areas on Long Island where the Magothy aquifer is either absent or contaminated with chlorides. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • 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.
  • Compact basin commission: shall mean an interstate commission having jurisdiction with respect to the regulation of water resources within a basin in the state, created by interstate compact or federal-interstate compact, including but not limited to, the Susquehanna river basin commission and the Delaware river basin commission. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
  • Devise: To gift property by will.
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Donee: The recipient of a gift.
  • Donor: The person who makes a gift.
  • Dower: A widow
  • Enforcement officer: shall mean any person authorized to enforce the provisions of this title or the building code in the municipality in which the water well drilling activities are taking place. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • Environmentally sound and economically feasible water conservation measures: shall mean 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:
    (i) are environmentally sound; (ii) reflect best practices applicable to the water use sector; (iii) are technically feasible and available; (iv) are economically feasible and cost effective based on an analysis that considers direct and avoided economic and environmental costs; and (v) consider the particular facilities and processes involved, taking into account the environmental impact, age of equipment and facilities involved, the processes employed, energy impacts and other appropriate factors. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • 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
  • Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
  • Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
  • Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
  • 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.
  • Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
  • 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.
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Interbasin diversion: shall mean the transfer of water or wastewater from one New York major drainage basin to another drainage basin. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • 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
  • Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
  • 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.
  • Juror: A person who is on the jury.
  • Land acquisition projects: means open space acquisition projects undertaken with willing sellers including, but not limited to, the purchase of conservation easements, undertaken by a municipality, a not-for-profit corporation, or purchase of conservation easements by a soil and water conservation district. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-3301
  • 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
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Lloyd Sands: shall mean that geological strata generally known to be the deepest and oldest water-bearing layer of the Long Island aquifer system and shall not include bedrock. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Municipality: means the same as such term as defined in section 56-0101 of this chapter. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-3301
  • Not-for-profit corporation: means a corporation formed pursuant to the not-for-profit corporation law and qualified for tax-exempt status under the federal internal revenue code. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-3301
  • Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
  • 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.
  • 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: shall mean any individual, public or private corporation, political subdivision, government agency, department or bureau of the state, municipality, industry, co-partnership, association, firm, trust, estate or any other legal entity whatsoever. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • 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.
  • Potable water: shall mean water intended for human consumption that meets the requirements for a public water system as set forth in the state sanitary code. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • 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 water supply system: shall mean a permanently installed water withdrawal system including its source, collection, pumping, treatment, transmission, storage and distribution facilities used in connection with such system, which provides piped potable water to the public for potable purposes, if such system has at least five service connections used by year-round residents. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  • Revocable trust: A trust agreement that can be canceled, rescinded, revoked, or repealed by the grantor (person who establishes the trust).
  • 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
  • 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.
  • Soil and water conservation district: means the same as such term as defined in section three of the soil and water conservation districts law. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-3301
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
  • Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
  • Threshold volume: shall mean the withdrawal of water of a volume of one hundred thousand gallons or more per day, determined by the limiting maximum capacity of the water withdrawal, treatment, or conveyance system; provided that for agricultural purposes the threshold volume shall mean a withdrawal of water of a volume in excess of an average of one hundred thousand gallons per day in any consecutive thirty-day period. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
  • 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.
  • Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC
  • Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
  • Water well: shall mean any groundwater excavation for the purpose of obtaining water. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • Water well driller: shall mean a person who, for compensation or as part of property development and sale, engages in water well drilling activities; provided, however, that, for the purposes of this subdivision, the term "person" shall not include a public corporation, political subdivision, government agency, department, or bureau of the state or a municipality. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • water well drilling activities: shall mean the construction and reconstruction of water wells, the establishment or repair of a connection through the well casing and the repair of water wells including repairs which require the opening of the well casing. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • Water withdrawal system: shall mean any equipment or infrastructure operated or maintained for the provision or withdrawal of water including, but not limited to, collection, pumping, treatment, transportation, transmission, storage, and distribution. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • withdrawal of water: shall mean the removal or taking of water for any purpose from the waters of the state. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 15-1502
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.