Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 45.2 > Subtitle II > Part A > Chapter 6 - Coal Mining Property, Interests, Adjacent Owners, and Dams

• Act: means the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, Title V (§ 1501 et seq. See Virginia Code 6.2-1700
• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• 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.
• 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.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
• Board: means the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Chief: means the Chief of the Division of Mines of the Department of Energy. See Virginia Code 45.2-100
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Coal refuse: means waste material resulting from the mining and screening or processing of coal. See Virginia Code 45.2-617
• Coal slurry: means waste water and impurities produced as the result of coal washing and preparation of coal for market, containing a combination of coal, shale, claystone, siltstone, sandstone, limestone, or related materials that are excavated, moved, and disposed of from underground workings. See Virginia Code 45.2-617
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Financial Institutions. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Employee: means an individual (i) whose manner and means of performance of work are subject to the right of control of, or are controlled by, a person and (ii) whose compensation for federal income tax purposes is reported, or required to be reported, on a W-2 form issued by the controlling person. See Virginia Code 6.2-1700
• Employer: means any political subdivision of the Commonwealth, including any county, city, town, authority, or special district that employs fire protection employees except any locality with five or fewer paid firefighters that is exempt from overtime rules by 29 U. See Virginia Code 9.1-700
• 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: means any corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or other legal or commercial entity. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
• Food: means any article that is intended for human consumption and introduction into commerce, whether the article is simple, mixed, or compound, and all substances or ingredients used in the preparation thereof. See Virginia Code 3.2-5145.1
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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.
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Industrial hemp: means a Cannabis sativa plant that has a concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol that is no greater than that allowed by federal law. See Virginia Code 3.2-5145.1
• Industrial hemp extract: means an extract (i) of industrial hemp, (ii) that is intended for human consumption, and (iii) except as otherwise provided in subsection M of § 54. See Virginia Code 3.2-5145.1
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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.
• Law-enforcement employee: means any person who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the Commonwealth, other than an employee who is exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and who is a full-time employee of either (i) a police department or (ii) a sheriff's office that is part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof. See Virginia Code 9.1-700
• 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}
• Licensee: means an individual licensed under this chapter. See Virginia Code 6.2-1700
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Mine refuse impoundment: means a mine refuse pile that retains water that has been used in carrying out any part of the process necessary in the production or preparation of coal. See Virginia Code 45.2-617
• Mine refuse pile: means a pile of coarse or fine coal refuse that is a result of the mining or screening process that may be stacked, spread, or graded and covers 20 acre-feet or more. See Virginia Code 45.2-617
• Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year. See Virginia Code 1-223
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgage loan originator: means an individual who (i) takes an application for or offers or negotiates the terms of a residential mortgage loan in which the dwelling is or will be located in the Commonwealth or (ii) represents to the public, through advertising or other means of communicating or providing information, including the use of business cards, stationery, brochures, signs, rate lists, or other promotional items, that such individual can or will perform any of the activities described in clause (i). See Virginia Code 6.2-1700
• 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.
• Nontraditional mortgage product: means any mortgage product other than a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. See Virginia Code 6.2-1700
• 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.
• Operator: means any person who operates, controls, or supervises a retaining dam or a mine refuse impoundment. See Virginia Code 45.2-617
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Person: means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or other legal or commercial entity. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• public safety officer: includes a law-enforcement officer of the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions; a correctional officer as defined in § 53. See Virginia Code 9.1-801
• public uses: means the mining, production, or marketing of coal for the purpose of providing and furnishing heat or power to the people of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 45.2-608
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Registered mortgage loan originator: means any individual who (i) takes an application for or offers or negotiates the terms of a residential mortgage loan in which the dwelling is or will be located in the Commonwealth, (ii) is an employee of a covered financial institution, and (iii) is registered with, and maintains a unique identifier through, the Registry. See Virginia Code 6.2-1700
• Registry: means a mortgage licensing system developed and maintained by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators for the licensing and registration of mortgage loan originators. See Virginia Code 6.2-1700
• Regularly scheduled work hours: means those hours that are recurring and fixed within the work period and for which an employee receives a salary or hourly compensation. See Virginia Code 9.1-700
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retaining dam: means an artificial barrier or obstruction that is designed to impound water, coal slurry, or silt (i) to an elevation of five feet or more above the upstream toe of the structure and has a storage volume of 20 acre-feet or more or (ii) to an elevation of 20 feet or more measured at the open channel spillway or from the crest of the dam in a closed system, regardless of storage volume. See Virginia Code 45.2-617
• Silt: means fine particles resulting from a mining operation, suspended in or deposited by water. See Virginia Code 45.2-617
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249
• sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
• Tetrahydrocannabinol: means the same as that term is defined in § 3. See Virginia Code 3.2-5145.1
• Total tetrahydrocannabinol: means the same as that term is defined in § 3. See Virginia Code 3.2-5145.1
• Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
• 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.
• Unique identifier: means a number or other identifier assigned by protocols established by the Registry that permanently identifies a mortgage loan originator. See Virginia Code 6.2-1700
• United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
• Water: means liquid or slurry resulting from the processing of coal in mining operations. See Virginia Code 45.2-617