Section 172. Definitions

Unless  the  context clearly indicates otherwise,
  the following terms shall have the following meanings:
    1. "Administrator" means the chief executive, within the department of
  audit and control, of the New York environmental  protection  and  spill
  compensation fund;
    2. "Barrel" means forty-two United States gallons, or 159.9 liters, at
  sixty degrees fahrenheit;
    2-a.  "Biological  additives" means microbiological cultures, enzymes,
  or nutrient additives that are deliberately introduced into a  petroleum
  discharge  for  the  specific  purpose  of encouraging biodegradation to
  mitigate the effects of the discharge.
    3. "Claim" means, for purposes of part  three  of  this  article,  any
  claim  of  the  fund  or  any  claim  by  an  injured person, who is not
  responsible for the discharge,  seeking  compensation  for  cleanup  and
  removal  costs  incurred or damages sustained as a result of a petroleum
  discharge;
    3-a. "Burning  agents"  means  additives  that,  through  physical  or
  chemical  means,  improve  the  combustibility of the materials to which
  they are applied.
    3-b. "Chemical agents" means generally those  elements,  compounds  or
  mixtures that coagulate, disperse, dissolve, emulsify, foam, neutralize,
  precipitate,  reduce, solubilize, oxidize, concentrate, congeal, entrap,
  fix, make the  pollutant  mass  more  rigid  or  viscous,  or  otherwise
  facilitate  the  mitigation  of  deleterious  effects  or removal of the
  pollutant or petroleum from the water.
    4. "Cleanup and  removal"  means  the  (a)  containment  or  attempted
  containment  of  a  discharge,  (b)  removal  or  attempted removal of a
  discharge or, (c) taking of reasonable measures to prevent  or  mitigate
  damages  to  the  public  health,  safety, or welfare, including but not
  limited to, public and private property,  shorelines,  beaches,  surface
  waters,  water  columns  and  bottom sediments, soils and other affected
  property, including wildlife and other natural resources;
    5. "Cleanup and removal costs" means all  costs  associated  with  the
  cleanup  and  removal of a discharge including relocation costs pursuant
  to section one hundred seventy-seven-a of this article incurred  by  the
  state  or  its political subdivisions or their agents or any person with
  approval of the department;
    6.  "Commissioner"  means  the  commissioner  of  the  department   of
  environmental conservation, unless otherwise indicated;
    6-a. "Containment boom" means a floating or stationary device composed
  of  plastic,  natural  or  synthetic materials which can be mechanically
  extended over water or permanently stationed over water for the purposes
  of containing floating petroleum,  solid  objects  or  other  pollutants
  within or outside a particular area;
    7.  "Department"  means  the department of environmental conservation,
  unless otherwise indicated;
    8. "Discharge"  means  any  intentional  or  unintentional  action  or
  omission   resulting  in  the  releasing,  spilling,  leaking,  pumping,
  pouring, emitting, emptying or dumping of petroleum into the  waters  of
  the  state  or  onto  lands  from which it might flow or drain into said
  waters, or into waters outside the jurisdiction of the state when damage
  may result  to  the  lands,  waters  or  natural  resources  within  the
  jurisdiction of the state;
    8-a.  "Dispersant"  means  chemical agents that emulsify, disperse, or
  solubilize petroleum into  the  water  column  or  promote  the  surface
  spreading  of  petroleum slicks to facilitate dispersal of the petroleum
  into the water column.

    9. "Fund" means  the  New  York  environmental  protection  and  spill
  compensation fund;
    10.  "License  fee  period" means every calendar month on the basis of
  which the licensee is required to report under this article;
    11. "Major facility" includes but is  not  limited  to  any  refinery,
  storage  or  transfer  terminal,  pipeline,  deep  water  port, drilling
  platform or any appurtenance related to any of  the  preceding  that  is
  used  or  is  capable  of  being used to refine, produce, store, handle,
  transfer, process or transport petroleum. A vessel shall be considered a
  major facility only when petroleum is  transferred  between  vessels.  A
  vessel that would not otherwise be considered a major facility shall not
  be  considered a major facility based solely upon its rendering of care,
  assistance or advice consistent with the national contingency plan or as
  otherwise directed  by  the  federal  on-scene  coordinator  or  by  the
  commissioner  or  his  designee, in response to a discharge of petroleum
  into or upon  the  navigable  waters.  Facilities  with  total  combined
  above-ground  or  buried  storage  capacity  of  less  than four hundred
  thousand gallons are not major  facilities  for  the  purposes  of  this
  article;
    12.  "Natural  resources"  means  all land, fish, shellfish, wildlife,
  biota, air, waters and other such resources;
    13. "Owner" or "operator" means with respect to a vessel,  any  person
  owning,  operating  or chartering by demise such vessel; with respect to
  any major facility, any person owning such facility, or operating it  by
  lease, contract or other form of agreement; with respect to abandoned or
  derelict  major  facilities,  the  person  who  owned  or  operated such
  facility immediately prior to such abandonment, or the owner at the time
  of discharge;
    14.  "Person"  means  public  or  private   corporations,   companies,
  associations,  societies,  firms,  partnerships,  joint stock companies,
  individuals, the United States, the state of New York  and  any  of  its
  political subdivisions or agents;
    15.  "Petroleum"  means  oil  or petroleum of any kind and in any form
  including, but not limited to, oil, petroleum, fuel oil, oil sludge, oil
  refuse, oil mixed  with  other  wastes  and  crude  oils,  gasoline  and
  kerosene;
    15-a.   "Petroleum-bearing   vessel"  means  any  vessel  transporting
  petroleum in commercial quantities as cargo or any vessel constructed or
  adapted for the carriage of petroleum in bulk;
    15-b. "Sinking agents" means additives applied to petroleum discharges
  to sink floating pollutants below the water surface.
    15-c. "Surface collecting agents" means chemical agents  that  form  a
  surface film to control the layer thickness of petroleum.
    15-d.  "Tank  vessel" means a vessel that is constructed or adapted to
  carry, or that carries, petroleum in bulk as cargo or cargo residue, and
  that:
    (a) is a vessel of the United States;
    (b) operates on the waters of the state of New York; or
    (c) transfers petroleum in a place subject to the jurisdiction of  the
  of the state of New York.
    16.  "Transfer" means onloading or offloading between major facilities
  and vessels or vessels and major facilities, and from vessel  to  vessel
  or major facility to major facility;
    17.   "Vessel"   means  every  description,  of  watercraft  or  other
  contrivance that is practically capable of being  used  as  a  means  of
  commercial  transportation  of  petroleum upon the water, whether or not
  self-propelled; and

    18. "Waters" means the ocean and its estuaries to the seaward limit of
  the state's jurisdiction, and all lakes, springs, streams and bodies  of
  surface  or  groundwater,  whether  natural  or  artificial,  within the
  boundaries of this state. Provided, however, that for purposes  of  this
  definition,  waters of the state adjacent to Long Island Sound are to be
  strictly construed to effectuate only the provisions of this article.