Terms Used In New York Laws > Environmental Conservation > Article 56 > Title 5 - Environmental Restoration Projects

• 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.
• 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.
• Cost: means the cost of an approved project, which shall include appraisal, surveying, engineering and architectural services, plans and specifications, consultant and legal services, construction and other direct expenses incident to such project less any federal or state funds, other than those provided pursuant to this article, for such project received or to be received. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 56-0101
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• 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.
• Environmental restoration project: means a project to investigate or to remediate contamination pursuant to title five of this article. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 56-0101
• 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}
• 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.
• 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.
• Municipality: means a local public authority or public benefit corporation, a county, city, town, village, school district, supervisory district, district corporation, improvement district within a county, city, town or village, or Indian nation or tribe recognized by the state or the United States with a reservation wholly or partly within the boundaries of New York state, or any combination thereof. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 56-0101
• 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 56-0101
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Responsible party: means a party responsible under applicable principles of statutory or common law liability to remediate the contamination located at, or emanating from, real property subject to an environmental restoration project. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 56-0101
• 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 assistance payment: means payment of the state share of the cost of projects authorized by this act to preserve, enhance, restore and improve the quality of the state's environment. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 56-0101
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.