Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 22 > Article 4 - Quarry Reclamation Act

• abandoned quarry lands: means :

  (A) A quarry which was operated and abandoned without proper reclamation prior to the effective date of this article. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3

• 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.
• 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.
• Backfill: means overburden, dirt, rock or other materials that are used as fill material to reduce steepness of slopes or to fill holes, depressions or excavations. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• 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.
• Berm: means a type of fill or pile used for a specific purpose other than excess spoil disposal. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Critical gradient: means the maximum stable inclination of an unsupported slope as measured from a horizontal plane. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• 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.
• Director: means the director of the Division of Environmental Protection and his or her authorized agents. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• 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:
• Disturbed area: means the land area from which the mineral is removed by quarrying and all other land area in which the natural land surface has been disturbed as a result of or incidental to quarrying activities of the operator, including private ways and private roads appurtenant to the area, land excavations, workings, refuse piles, product stockpiles, areas grubbed of vegetation, overburden, piles and tailings. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Division: means the Division of Environmental Protection. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• 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.
• Fill: means a side of hill fill or valley fill. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• 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.
• Manufacturing: means the process of converting raw materials to salable products but does not include crushing or screening of minerals undertaken in close proximity to active quarrying operations. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Minerals: means natural deposits of commercial value found on or in the earth, whether consolidated or loose, including clay, flagstone, gravel, sand, limestone, sandstone, shale, chert, flint, dolomite, manganese, slate, iron ore and any other metal or metallurgical ore. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Mulch: means any natural or plant residue, organic or inorganic material, applied to the surface of the earth to retain moisture and curtail or limit soil erosion. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• 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.
• Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Office: means any office, division, board, agency, unit, organizational entity or component thereof within the Department of Environmental Protection. See West Virginia Code 22-1-2
• Operator: means a person who engages in any activities regulated by this article and any rules promulgated hereunder, who as a result is required to hold a permit pursuant to the provisions herein. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• 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 area: means the area of land indicated on the approved map submitted by the permittee and designated in the permit including the location of end strip markers, permit markers and monuments. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Permittee: means any person who holds a valid permit issued by the division to conduct quarrying activities pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Person: means any individual, partnership, firm, society, association, trust, corporation, other business entity or any agency, unit or instrumentality of federal, state or local government. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Protected structure: means any of the following structures that are situated outside the permit area: An occupied dwelling, a temporarily unoccupied dwelling which has been occupied within the past ninety days, a public building, a structure for commercial purposes, a school, a church, a community or institutional building, a public park, spring box or, water well. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Quarrying: means any breaking of the ground surface in order to facilitate the extraction of minerals. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Reclamation: means returning disturbed areas to a stable condition which does not create health or safety hazards or adverse environmental impact, and when appropriate or required by permit, returning disturbed quarry areas to a designated postmining land use. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Side of hill fill: means overburden, dirt or rock that is placed on a natural slope of more than twenty degrees. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Valley fill: means a fill structure consisting of material placed in a valley where the natural side slopes measured at the steepest point are greater than twenty degrees or the average slopes measured at the steepest point are greater than twenty degrees or the average slopes or the profile of the hollow are greater than twenty degrees. See West Virginia Code 22-4-3
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.