Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 10 > Chapter 170 - Department of Environmental Conservation; Standard Procedures

• Adjoining property owner: means a person who owns land in fee simple, if that land:

• Administrative amendment: means an amendment to an individual permit, general permit, or notice of intent under a general permit that corrects typographical errors, changes the name or mailing address of a permittee, authorizes a transfer of a permit when authorized under rule, or makes other similar changes to a permit that do not require technical review of the permitted activity or the imposition of new conditions or requirements. See
• Administrative record: means the application and any supporting data furnished by the applicant; all information submitted by the applicant during the course of reviewing the application; the draft permit or notice of intent to deny the application; the fact sheet and all documents cited in the fact sheet, if applicable; all comments received during the public comment period; the recording or transcript of any public meeting or meetings held; any written material submitted at a public meeting; the response to comments; the final permit; any document used as a basis for the final decision; and any other documents contained in the permit file. See
• Administratively complete application: means an application for a permit for which all initially required documentation has been submitted, and any required permit fee, and the information submitted initially addresses all application requirements but has not yet been subjected to a complete technical review. See
• 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: means the Agency of Natural Resources. See
• 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 meeting: when applied to towns shall mean the annual town meeting in March or an adjournment thereof. See
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Articles of incorporation: include amended and restated articles of incorporation, articles of merger, and special charters. See
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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.
• Beverage: means beer or other malt beverages and mineral waters, mixed wine drink, soda water, and carbonated soft drinks in liquid form and intended for human consumption. See
• biennially: shall mean the year in which a regular session of the General Assembly is held. See
• bulletin: means the website and e-mail notification system required by 3 V. See
• Capacity: means that a public water system has the technical, financial, and managerial capabilities to consistently comply with current performance standards, including the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U. See
• Clean Air Act: means the federal statutes on air pollution prevention and control, 42 U. See
• Clean Water Act: means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation or the Commissioner's designee. See
• Community water system: means a public water system that serves at least 15 service connections used by year-round residents or regularly serves at least 25 year-round residents. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conservation: means methods and procedures designed to promote efficient use of water and to minimize waste of water. See
• Container: means the individual, separate, bottle, can, jar, or carton composed of glass, metal, paper, plastic, or any combination of those materials containing a consumer product. See
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Environmental Conservation. See
• Department: means the Department of Environmental Conservation. See
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Disposal: means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, emitting, or placing of any solid waste or hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such solid waste or hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any ground or surface waters. See
• Distribution: means a direct or indirect transfer of money or other property (except its own shares) or incurrence of indebtedness by a corporation to or for the benefit of its shareholders in respect of any of its shares. See
• Distributor: means every person who engages in the sale of consumer products in containers to a dealer in this State, including any manufacturer who engages in such sales. See
• Document: means any written or recorded information, regardless of physical form or characteristics, that the Department produces or acquires in the course of reviewing an application for a permit. See
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• domestic corporation: means a corporation for profit, which is not a foreign corporation, incorporated under or subject to the provisions of this title. See
• Drinking water: means noncarbonated water that is intended for human consumption or other consumer uses whether provided by a public water system or in a container, bottle, or package, or in bulk, including water used for production of ice, foodstuffs, or other products designed for human consumption. See
• Employee: includes an officer but not a director. See
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Entity: includes corporation and foreign corporation; not-for-profit corporation; profit and not-for-profit unincorporated association; business trust, estate, partnership, trust, and two or more persons having a joint or common economic interest; and state, United States, and foreign government. See
• 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.
• Facility: means all contiguous land, structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land, used for treating, storing, or disposing of waste. See
• Fact sheet: means a document that briefly sets forth the principal facts and the significant factual, legal, methodological, and policy questions considered in preparing a draft decision. See
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• 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.
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• 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}
• Foreign corporation: means a corporation for profit incorporated under a law other than the law of this State. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• General permit: means a permit that applies to a class or category of discharges, emissions, disposal, facilities, or activities within a common geographic area, including the entire State or a region of the State. See
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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.
• Hazardous waste: means any waste or combination of wastes of a solid, liquid, contained gaseous, or semi-solid form, including those that are toxic, corrosive, ignitable, reactive, strong sensitizers, or that generate pressure through decomposition, heat, or other means, that in the judgment of the Secretary may cause or contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness, taking into account the toxicity of such waste, its persistence and degradability in nature, and its potential for assimilation, or concentration in tissue, and other factors that may otherwise cause or contribute to adverse acute or chronic effects on the health of persons or other living organisms, or any matter that may have an unusually destructive effect on water quality if discharged to ground or surface waters of the State. See
• Implementation plan: means that plan that is adopted to be consistent with the State solid waste management plan. See
• 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}
• Individual: includes the estate of an individual who is incompetent or deceased. See
• Individual permit: means a permit that authorizes a specific discharge, emission, disposal, facility, or activity that contains terms and conditions that are specific to the discharge, emission, disposal, facility, or activity. See
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• 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}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Liquor: means spirits as defined in 7 V. See
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Manufacturer: means every person bottling, canning, packing, or otherwise filling containers for sale to distributors or dealers. See
• Meeting: means any structured communications conducted by participants in person or through the use of electronic or telecommunications medium permitting simultaneous or sequentially structured communications for the purpose of reaching a collective agreement. See
• Minor amendment: means an amendment to an individual permit or notice of intent under a general permit that requires a change in a condition or requirement, does not necessitate technical review, and is not an administrative amendment. See
• Month: shall mean a calendar month and "year" shall mean a calendar year and be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Notice of intent under a general permit: means an authorization issued by the Secretary to undertake an action authorized by a general permit. See
• 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.
• Permit: includes any permit, certification, license, registration, determination, or similar form of permission required from the Department by law. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Person: means any individual, partnership, company, corporation, cooperative, association, unincorporated association, joint venture, trust, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, subdivision, or municipality, the U. See
• Person: means any individual; partnership; company; corporation; association; unincorporated association; joint venture; trust; municipality; the State of Vermont or any agency, department, or subdivision of the State; federal agency; or any other legal or commercial entity. See
• Person: includes individual and entity. See
• Person to whom notice is federally required: means a person to whom notice of an application or draft decision must be given under federal regulations adopted pursuant to the Clean Air Act or Clean Water Act. See
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• 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.
• Principal office: means the office (in or outside this State) so designated in the annual report where the principal executive offices of a domestic or foreign corporation are located. See
• Proceeding: includes civil suit and criminal, administrative, and investigatory action. See
• Public meeting: means a meeting that is open to the public and recorded or transcribed, at which the Department shall provide basic information about the draft permit decision, an opportunity for questions to the applicant and the Department, and an opportunity for members of the public to submit oral and written comments. See
• Public water source: means any surface water or groundwater supply used as a source of drinking water for a public water system. See
• Public water source protection area: means a surface and subsurface area from or through which contaminants are reasonably likely to reach a public water source. See
• Public water system: means any system, or combination of systems owned or controlled by a person, that provides drinking water through pipes or other constructed conveyances to the public and that:

• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real estate: shall include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein, and pews or slips in places of public worship shall be treated as real estate. See
• Redemption center: means a store or other location where any person may, during normal business hours, redeem the amount of the deposit for any empty beverage container labeled or certified pursuant to section 1524 of this title. See
• road: shall include bridges thereon and their approaches. See
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources or the Secretary's designee. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources or his or her duly authorized representative. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources or designee. See
• Secretary: means the corporate officer to whom the board of directors has delegated responsibility under subsection 8. See
• 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.
• Shareholder: means the person in whose name shares are registered in the records of a corporation or upon presentation for registration are entitled to be registered in the records of a corporation. See
• Solid waste: means any discarded garbage; refuse; septage; sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply plant, or pollution control facility; and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous materials resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, or agricultural operations and from community activities but does not include animal manure and absorbent bedding used for soil enrichment; high carbon bulking agents used in composting; or solid or dissolved materials in industrial discharges that are point sources subject to permits under the Water Pollution Control Act, chapter 47 of this title. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• 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.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Technical review: means the application of scientific, engineering, or other professional expertise to the facts to determine whether activity for which a permit is requested meets the standards for issuing the permit under statute and rule. See
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• 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.
• Treatment: means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous or solid waste, so as to neutralize such waste, or so as to recover energy or material resources from the waste, or so as to render such waste safer for transport, amenable for recovery, amenable for storage, or reduced in volume, or for hazardous wastes, so as to render such waste nonhazardous. See
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Voting group: means all shares of one or more classes or series that under the articles of incorporation or this title are entitled to vote and be counted together collectively on a matter at a meeting of shareholders. See
• Waste: means a material that is discarded or is being accumulated, stored, or physically, chemically, or biologically treated prior to being discarded or has served its original intended use and is normally discarded or is a manufacturing or mining by-product and is normally discarded. See