Terms Used In CFR > Title 23 > Chapter I > Subchapter G - Engineering and Traffic Operations

• AASHTO Manual: means the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) "Manual for Bridge Evaluation" including Interim Revisions, excluding the 3rd paragraph in Article 6B. See 23 CFR 650.305
• AASHTO Manual for Bridge Evaluation: means the "Manual for Bridge Evaluation" incorporated by reference in § 650. See 23 CFR 650.505
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• animal waste: includes animal waste that is mixed or commingled with bedding, compost, feed, soil, or any other material typically found with such waste. See 40 CFR 302.3
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• 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.
• complex tunnel: means a tunnel characterized by advanced or unique structural elements or functional systems. See 23 CFR 650.505
• comprehensive tunnel inspection training: means the FHWA-approved training that covers all aspects of tunnel inspection and enables inspectors to relate conditions observed in a tunnel to established criteria. See 23 CFR 650.505
• control: means having any relationship which gives an entity or person authority directly or indirectly to determine the manner in which an applicant, permittee or lessee conducts grazing operations. See 43 CFR 4100.0-5
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• covered produce: refers to the harvestable or harvested part of the crop. See 21 CFR 112.3
• Credit bureau: An agency that collects individual credit information and sells it for a fee to creditors so they can make a decision on granting loans. Typical clients include banks, mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and other financing companies. (Also commonly referred to as consumer-reporting agency or credit-reporting agency.) ^{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.
• 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.
• 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:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• end-of-course assessment: means a comprehensive examination given to students after the completion of a training course. See 23 CFR 650.505
• 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.
• 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.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• farm: includes operations that, in addition to these activities:

  (i) Pack or hold raw agricultural commodities;

  (ii) Pack or hold processed food, provided that all processed food used in such activities is either consumed on that farm or another farm under the same management, or is processed food identified in paragraph (1)(iii)(B)(1) of this definition; and

  (iii) Manufacture/process food, provided that:

  (A) All food used in such activities is consumed on that farm or another farm under the same management; or

  (B) Any manufacturing/processing of food that is not consumed on that farm or another farm under the same management consists only of:

  (1) Drying/dehydrating raw agricultural commodities to create a distinct commodity (such as drying/dehydrating grapes to produce raisins), and packaging and labeling such commodities, without additional manufacturing/processing (an example of additional manufacturing/processing is slicing);

  (2) Treatment to manipulate the ripening of raw agricultural commodities (such as by treating produce with ethylene gas), and packaging and labeling treated raw agricultural commodities, without additional manufacturing/processing; and

  (3) Packaging and labeling raw agricultural commodities, when these activities do not involve additional manufacturing/processing (an example of additional manufacturing/processing is irradiation); or

  (2) Secondary activities farm. See 21 CFR 112.3

• Food-contact surfaces: includes utensils and food-contact surfaces of equipment. See 21 CFR 117.3
• functional systems: means non-structural systems, such as electrical, mechanical, fire suppression, ventilation, lighting, communications, monitoring, drainage, traffic signals, emergency response (including egress, refuge room spacing, or carbon monoxide detection), or traffic safety components. See 23 CFR 650.505
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• in-depth inspection: means a close-up inspection of one, several, or all tunnel structural elements or functional systems to identify any deficiencies not readily detectable using routine inspection procedures. See 23 CFR 650.505
• 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}
• initial inspection: means the first inspection of a tunnel to provide all inventory, appraisal, and other data necessary to determine the baseline condition of the structural elements and functional systems. See 23 CFR 650.505
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Inspection Date: means the date established by the Program Manager on which a regularly scheduled routine inspection begins for a tunnel. See 23 CFR 650.505
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• load rating: means the determination of the safe vehicular live load carrying capacity within or above the tunnel using structural plans, and information gathered from an inspection. See 23 CFR 650.505
• National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
• 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.
• 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.
• portal: means the entrance and exit of the tunnel exposed to the environment; portals may include bare rock, constructed tunnel entrance structures, or buildings. See 23 CFR 650.505
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• procedures: means the written documentation of policies, methods, considerations, criteria, and other conditions that direct the actions of personnel so that a desired end result is achieved consistently. See 23 CFR 650.505
• Program Manager: means the individual in charge of the inspection program who has been assigned or delegated the duties and responsibilities for tunnel inspection, reporting, and inventory. See 23 CFR 650.505
• project: means any undertaking eligible for assistance under title 23 of the United States Code. See 23 CFR 627.3
• Provides: includes storing, preparing, packaging, serving, and vending. See 21 CFR 120.3
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Recipient: includes , but is not limited to:

  (1) State-level agencies that administer, or are financed in whole or in part with, WIA Title I funds;

  (2) State Employment Security Agencies;

  (3) State and local Workforce Investment Boards;

  (4) LWIA grant recipients;

  (5) One-Stop operators;

  (6) Service providers, including eligible training providers;

  (7) On-the-Job Training (OJT) employers;

  (8) Job Corps contractors and center operators, excluding the operators of federally-operated Job Corps centers;

  (9) Job Corps national training contractors;

  (10) Outreach and admissions agencies, including Job Corps contractors that perform these functions;

  (11) Placement agencies, including Job Corps contractors that perform these functions; and

  (12) Other National Program recipients. See 29 CFR 37.4

• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• 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.
• routine inspection: means a regularly scheduled comprehensive inspection encompassing all tunnel structural elements and functional systems and consisting of observations and measurements needed to determine the physical and functional condition of the tunnel, to identify any changes from initial or previously recorded conditions, and to ensure that tunnel components continue to satisfy present service requirements. See 23 CFR 650.505
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Team Leader: means the on-site individual in charge of an inspection team responsible for planning, preparing, performing, and reporting on tunnel inspections. See 23 CFR 650.505
• 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.
• 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.
• tunnel: means an enclosed roadway for motor vehicle traffic with vehicle access limited to portals, regardless of type of structure or method of construction, that requires, based on the owner's determination, special design considerations that may include lighting, ventilation, fire protection systems, and emergency egress capacity. See 23 CFR 650.505
• tunnel inspection experience: means active participation in the performance of tunnel inspections in accordance with the National Tunnel Inspection Standards, in either a field inspection, supervisory, or management role. See 23 CFR 650.505
• tunnel inspection refresher training: means an FHWA-approved training course that aims to improve the quality of tunnel inspections, introduce new techniques, and maintain the consistency of the tunnel inspection program. See 23 CFR 650.505
• tunnel-specific inspection procedures: means the written documentation of the directions necessary to plan for, and conduct an inspection. See 23 CFR 650.505
• undesirable microorganisms: includes those microorganisms that are pathogens, that subject food to decomposition, that indicate that food is contaminated with filth, or that otherwise may cause food to be adulterated. See 21 CFR 117.3
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.