Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 2 > Chapter 1 - General Assembly

• 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
• Agency: means the Agency of Natural Resources. See
• Air navigation: means the operation of aircraft in the air space over this State, or upon any airport or restricted landing area within this State. See
• Aircraft: means a contrivance used or designed for navigation of or flight in the air and specifically includes ultralight aircraft. See
• Airman: means an individual:

• Airport: means any area of land or water set aside by the Agency, any political subdivision, or person, except a restricted landing area, that is designed for the landing and take-off of aircraft, and used or to be used in the interest of the general public whether or not facilities are provided for the shelter, servicing, or repair of aircraft, or for receiving or discharging passengers or cargo, and all appurtenant areas used or suitable for airport buildings or other airport facilities, including all appurtenant rights-of-way. See
• Airport manager: means the owner of an airport in this State or an agent authorized to act on behalf of an airport owner. See
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Applicant: means a person who has applied for relief from State liability through participation in the Program. See
• Architectural paint: means interior and exterior architectural coatings, including interior or exterior water- and oil-based coatings, primers, sealers, or wood coatings, that are sold in containers of five gallons or less. See
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• 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.
• Brand: means a name, symbol, word, or traceable mark that identifies a primary battery and attributes the primary battery to the owner or licensee of the brand as the producer. See
• Brownfield site: means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the release or threatened release of a hazardous material. See
• Calendar year: means the period commencing January 1 and ending December 31 of the same year. See
• Carryout bag: means a bag provided by a store or food service establishment to a customer at the point of sale for the purpose of transporting groceries or retail goods, except that a "carryout bag" shall not mean:

• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Collection rate: means a percentage by weight that each producer or primary battery stewardship organization collects by an established date. See
• Collective account: means an internal capital account that represents the portion of the net book value of the corporation attributable to the cooperative. See
• Commercial hauler: means any person that transports:

• 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.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Compost: means a stable humus-like material produced by the controlled biological decomposition of organic matter through active management but shall not mean sewage, septage, or materials derived from sewage or septage. See
• Consumer: means any person who presents or delivers any number of primary batteries to a collection facility that is included in an approved primary battery stewardship plan. See
• Consumer product: means any product that is regularly used or purchased to be used for personal, family, or household purposes. See
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Conversion: means a change in character of residential real property from a rental to an ownership basis. See
• Cooperative housing corporation: means a domestic corporation which has elected to be governed by the provisions of this chapter. See
• Cooperative interest: means the ownership interest in a cooperative housing corporation which is evidenced by a membership share. See
• Cooperative property: means all the real and personal property, including mobile and manufactured homes, in this state owned or leased by a cooperative housing corporation for the primary purpose of residential use. See
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Critical infrastructure: means property and equipment owned or used by communications networks and electric generation, transmission, and distribution systems; water and wastewater systems; health systems; essential supply chains; thermal fuels and systems; and communications networks, including cellular, broadband, and telecommunications networks. See
• 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.
• Disaster response period: means a period that begins 10 days prior to the first day of the Governor's proclamation, the President's declaration, or designation by another authorized official of the State as set forth in this chapter, whichever occurs first, and that extends 60 calendar days after the declared State disaster or emergency. See
• Disaster- or emergency-related work: means repairing, renovating, installing, building, rendering services, or other nonretail business activities in areas of the State affected by the declared State disaster or emergency that relate to critical infrastructure that has been damaged, impaired, or destroyed by the declared State disaster or emergency. See
• 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:
• 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
• 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
• Easily removable: means readily detachable by a person without the use of tools or with the use of common household tools. See
• Economic poison: means :

• Energy recovery: means recovery in which all or a part of the solid waste materials are processed in order to use the heat content or other forms of energy of or from the material. 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.
• Environmentally sound management practices: means policies to be implemented by a producer or a stewardship organization to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and also addressing such issues as adequate record keeping, tracking and documenting the fate of materials within the State and beyond, and adequate environmental liability coverage for professional services and for the operations of the contractors working on behalf of the producer organization. See
• 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.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Expanded polystyrene: means blown polystyrene and expanded and extruded foams that are thermoplastic petrochemical materials utilizing a styrene monomer and processed by a number of techniques, including: fusion of polymer spheres, known as expandable bead 20 polystyrene; injection molding; foam molding; and extrusion-blow molding, also known as extruded foam polystyrene. See
• Expanded polystyrene food service product: means a product made of expanded polystyrene that is:

• Facility: means all contiguous land, structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land, used for treating, storing, or disposing of waste. See
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• 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}
• Hazardous material: means all petroleum and toxic, corrosive, or other chemicals and related sludge included in any of the following:

• 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
• Hazardous waste management: means the systematic and comprehensive management of the generation; storage; transport; treatment, including recycling and recovery; or disposal of hazardous waste materials. See
• 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.
• 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}
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Innocent current owner: means a person that owns real property where a release or threatened release of a hazardous material exists but the person did none of the following:

• 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}
• Internal capital account cooperative: means a worker cooperative governed in accordance with section 1090 of this chapter. See
• Internal capital accounts: means a system of accounts on the books of a worker cooperative that reflects the book value of the corporation. 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.
• Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. ^{Source: U.S. Mint}
• Lender: includes banks, the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, and other financial institutions. See
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Limited equity cooperative: means a cooperative housing corporation, organized in accordance with section 1598 of this title. See
• Limited equity formula: means a rule or method for determining the transfer value of a share in a limited equity cooperative. See
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Member: means a person who has been accepted for membership in, and owns a membership share issued by, a worker cooperative. See
• Member: means a person who owns a cooperative interest, and who is entitled to voting rights as prescribed in section 1594 of this title. See
• Membership fee: means the consideration paid for a membership share. See
• Membership share: means a share of voting stock issued to each member of a worker cooperative as evidence of membership. See
• Moderate income: means less than or equal to 100 percent of median income for the area, adjusted for family size, in accordance with standards generally accepted at the time of incorporation and comparable to standards of the U. 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.
• Municipal solid waste: means combined household, commercial, and industrial waste materials generated in a given area. See
• Municipality: means a city, town, or a village. See
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• Mutual Assistance Agreement: means an agreement to which one or more registered businesses and one or more out-of-state businesses are party and pursuant to which an electric or telephone utility may request and receive assistance from an out-of-state business for performance of disaster- or emergency-related work by the out-of-state business during the disaster response period. See
• Out-of-state business: means a business entity that, except for disaster- or emergency-related work, has no presence in the State and conducts no business in the State whose services are requested pursuant to a Mutual Assistance Agreement by a registered business or by a State or local government for purposes of performing disaster- or emergency-related work on critical infrastructure in the State. See
• Out-of-state employee: means an employee who does not work in the State, except for disaster- or emergency-related work during the disaster response period. See
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Paint stewardship assessment: means a one-time charge that is:

• Participate: means to appoint a primary battery stewardship organization or rechargeable battery stewardship organization to operate on behalf of oneself and to have that appointment accepted by the stewardship organization. See
• Patronage: means the amount of work performed as a member of a worker cooperative, measured in accordance with the articles of association or bylaws. 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: means a natural person. See
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• plan: means a plan submitted to the Secretary pursuant to section 7584 of this title by an individual producer or a primary battery stewardship organization. See
• Plastic: means a synthetic material made from linking monomers through a chemical reaction to create a polymer chain that can be molded or extruded at high heat into various solid forms that retain their defined shapes during their life cycle and after disposal, including material derived from either petroleum or a biologically based polymer, such as corn or other plant sources. See
• 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.
• Point of sale: means a check-out stand, cash register, or other point of departure from a store or food service establishment, including the location where remotely ordered food or products are delivered to a purchaser. See
• Postconsumer paint: means architectural paint and its containers not used and no longer wanted by a purchaser. See
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Primary battery: means a nonrechargeable battery weighing two kilograms or less, including alkaline, carbon-zinc, and lithium metal batteries. See
• Primary battery stewardship organization: means an organization appointed by one or more producers to act as an agent on behalf of a producer or producers to design, submit, implement, and administer a primary battery stewardship plan under this chapter. See
• Probate: Proving a will
• Producer: means a manufacturer of architectural paint who sells, offers for sale, or distributes that paint in Vermont under the producer's own name or brand. See
• producer: means one of the following with regard to a primary battery that is sold or offered for sale in the State:

• Program: means the Brownfield Property Cleanup Program. See
• Proprietary lease: means an agreement with a cooperative housing corporation governing a member's right to occupancy, under which a member has an exclusive possessory interest in a unit. See
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Psychiatric disability: means an impairment of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that limits one or more major life activities but does not include intellectual disability. See
• 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
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Rechargeable battery: means :

• Rechargeable battery steward: means a person who:

• Rechargeable product: means a consumer product that contains or is packaged with a rechargeable battery at the time the product is sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the State. See
• Recyclable paper carryout bag: means a carryout bag that is made of paper and that is recyclable. See
• Recycling: means any process by which discarded products, components, and by-products are transformed into new usable or marketable materials in a manner in which the original products may lose their identity but does not include energy recovery or energy generation by means of combusting discarded products, components, and by-products with or without other waste products. See
• Recycling: means any process by which discarded products, components, and by-products are transformed into new usable or marketable materials in a manner in which the original products may lose their identity, but does not include energy recovery or energy generation by means of combusting discarded products, components, and by-products with or without other waste products. See
• Regional plan: means that plan that is prepared and adopted in accordance with the provisions of 24 V. See
• registered business: means a business entity that is currently registered with the Secretary of State to do business in the State prior to the declared State disaster or emergency. See
• Release: means any intentional or unintentional action or omission resulting in the spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, dumping, or disposing of hazardous materials into the surface or groundwaters, or onto the lands in the State, or into waters outside the jurisdiction of the State when damage may result to the public health, lands, waters, or natural resources within the jurisdiction of the State. See
• Remediation standards: means standards developed by the Secretary for the remediation of contaminated properties. See
• Restricted landing area: means an area of land or water, or both, that is used or is made available for the landing and take-off of aircraft, the use of which, except in case of emergency, shall be only as provided from time to time by the Board. See
• Retailer: means any person that offers architectural paint for sale at retail in Vermont. See
• Retailer: means a person who offers a primary battery for sale to any consumer or business at retail in the State through any means, including remote offerings such as sales outlets, catalogues, or an Internet website. See
• Reusable carryout bag: means a carryout bag that is designed and manufactured for multiple uses and is:

• Reuse: means the return of a product into the economic stream for use in the same kind of application as originally intended, without a change in the product's identity. See
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• sale: means any transfer of title for consideration, including remote sales conducted through sales outlets, catalogues, or the Internet or any other similar electronic means. See
• Scrip: as used in this chapter includes certificates having no fixed maturity, transferable by delivery, and payable to bearer in lawful currency when realized out of the assets pledged to secure such scrip. See
• Scrip corporation: includes any person or corporation lawfully issuing scrip. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Transportation. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources or his or her duly authorized representative. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources. See
• secured lender: includes a person who acquires indicia of ownership by assignment from another secured lender. See
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Single-use plastic stirrer: means a device that is:

• Single-use plastic straw: means a tube made of plastic that is:

• 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
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Stewardship organization: means a nonprofit corporation or nonprofit organization created by a producer or group of producers to implement the Paint Stewardship Program required under this subchapter. See
• Storage: means the actual or intended containment of wastes, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of such wastes. See
• Storage operator: means a person who stores an aircraft or aircraft component at the request of an airport manager. See
• Store: means a grocery store, supermarket, convenience store, liquor store, drycleaner, pharmacy, drug store, or other retail establishment that provides carryout bags to its customers. See
• Subscription agreement: means a written agreement between a prospective member and a cooperative housing corporation for the purchase and sale of a cooperative interest. See
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• sworn: shall include affirmed. See
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• 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.
• transportation: means the movement of wastes by air, rail, highway, or water. See
• 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
• Unit: means a portion of the cooperative property leased for exclusive occupancy by a member under a proprietary lease, or leased to a tenant by lease agreement. See
• 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.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Village: shall mean an incorporated village. 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
• Worker cooperative: means a corporation which has elected to be governed by this chapter. See
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.