Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 9A > Article 9 - Secured Transactions

• Abandoned well: means any well or hole whose original purpose and use has been permanently discontinued or that is in such a state of disrepair that the well or hole has the potential for transmitting contaminants into an aquifer or otherwise threatens the public health or safety. See
• Aboveground storage tank: means any tank, other than an underground storage tank, used to store any of the following petroleum products: gasoline, diesel, kerosene, used oil, or heating oil. See
• Acceptable piping: means :

• 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
• Agency: means Agency of Natural Resources. See
• Agency: means the Agency of Natural Resources. See
• Agency: means the Agency of Natural Resources as created by 3 Vt. 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.
• 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.
• 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
• Aquifer: means a water bearing stratum of permeable rock, sand, gravel, or other alluvial soils. See
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• 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.
• Beneficial uses: means those uses included in each groundwater class. See
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• biennially: shall mean the year in which a regular session of the General Assembly is held. See
• Board: means the Secretary of Natural Resources. See
• Board: means the Natural Resources Board. See
• Bodily injury: means bodily injury, including sickness, disease, or death, sustained by any person. See
• Category one tank: means an underground storage tank, except for the following:

• Combination tank system: means an underground storage tank system consisting of a single-wall tank and acceptable piping. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation or the Commissioner's designated representative. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• 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.
• Department: means the Department of Environmental Conservation. See
• Department: means the Department of Environmental Conservation. See
• Department: means the Department of Environmental Conservation. See
• Department: means the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation within the Agency of Natural Resources. See
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Designated center: means a downtown development district, village center, new town center, growth center, Vermont neighborhood, or neighborhood development area designated under 24 Vt. 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
• Double-wall tank system: means an underground storage tank system consisting of a double-wall tank and acceptable piping. 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.
• 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.
• Farming: means farming as the term is defined in subdivision 6001(22) of this title. See
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• 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}
• Forestry operation: includes the primary processing of forest products of commercial value on a parcel where the timber harvest occurs. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Fund: means the fund created by section 1941 of this title. See
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Groundwater: means water below the land surface, but does not include surface waters within the meaning of subdivision 1251(13) of this title. See
• Groundwater: means water below the land surface, including springs. See
• 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.
• Heating Fuel Account: means the Heating Fuel Account of the Fund created by section 1941 of this title. See
• Hole: means any excavation, deeper than 20 feet with at least one horizontal dimension less than five feet. See
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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}
• 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.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Lineal descendant: Direct descendant of the same ancestors.
• Month: shall mean a calendar month and "year" shall mean a calendar year and be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Motor Fuel Account: means the Motor Fuel Account of the Fund created by section 1941 of this title. See
• municipal forest: means a tract of land primarily devoted to producing wood products, maintaining wildlife habitat, protecting water supplies, providing forest recreation and conservation education. See
• Municipality: means a municipality as defined in 1 V. 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
• 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.
• 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 in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of the underground or aboveground storage tank. See
• Owner: means :

• 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.
• 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 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: 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
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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.
• 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.
• Property damage: means :

• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Public water supply: means a water supply system with 15 or more connections. See
• 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
• 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}
• Regulated substance: means all petroleum and toxic, corrosive, or other chemicals and related sludge included in the following:

• Release: means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing from an underground storage tank or aboveground storage tank into groundwater, surface water, or soils. See
• 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.
• 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 or his or her authorized representative. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources or the Secretary's designated representative. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources or the Secretary's duly authorized representative. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources or the Secretary's duly authorized representative. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources. See
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Servicing: means developing of well yields, placing liners or seals, grouting, restricting the flow of flowing wells, repairing or closing wells, and installing or maintaining well pump systems. 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.
• Single-wall tank system: means an underground storage tank system consisting of a single-wall tank and single-wall pressurized piping. See
• Spring: means a groundwater source where groundwater flows naturally to the surface of the earth and is collected with a developed structure that is designed to locate or extract groundwater. See
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Surface water: means waters within the meaning of subdivision 1251(13) of this title. See
• sworn: shall include affirmed. See
• Tank integrity demonstration: means a test or a series of tests or other appropriate procedures prescribed by the Secretary to ascertain the condition of an underground storage tank and its surroundings. See
• Technical criteria: means the numerical parameters or scientific parameters that, when followed, will result in groundwater suitable for the uses defined in its class. See
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Timber: means trees, saplings, seedlings, bushes, shrubs, and sprouts from which trees may grow, of every size, nature, kind, and description. See
• Timber harvest: means a forestry operation involving the harvest of timber. See
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Underground storage tank: means any one or combination of tanks, including underground pipes connected to it or them, that is or has been used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, and the volume of which, including the volume of the underground pipes connected to it or them, is 10 percent or more beneath the surface of the ground. See
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• Village: shall mean an incorporated village. See
• Water pollution abatement and control facilities: means such equipment, conveyances, and structural or nonstructural facilities owned or operated by a municipality that are needed for and appurtenant to the prevention, management, treatment, storage, or disposal of stormwater, sewage, or waste, including a wastewater treatment facility, combined sewer separation facilities, an indirect discharge system, a wastewater system, flood resiliency work related to a structural facility, or a groundwater protection project. See
• Water resources: means groundwater or surface water. See
• Well: means any hole deeper than 20 feet drilled, driven, or bored into the earth to locate, monitor, extract, or recharge groundwater or any hole deeper than 20 feet drilled, driven, or bored for the primary purpose of transferring heat to or from the earth's subsurface. See
• Well: means any hole drilled, driven, bored, excavated, or created by similar method into the earth to locate, monitor, extract, or recharge groundwater where the water table or potentiometric surface is artificially lowered through pumping. See
• withdrawal: means the intentional removal by any method or instrument of groundwater from a well, spring, or combination of wells or springs. See