V.I. Code tit. 12, § 551 (2019)
2019 US Virgin Islands Code|Title 12 - Conservation|Chapter 14 - Brownsfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act|§ 551. Definitions

 (a) “Bona fide prospective purchaser” means a person who acquires ownership after January 1, 2002, or proposes to acquire ownership of, real property after the release of hazardous substances occurred. (b) “Brownsfield” means real property; the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. (c) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources or the Commissioner's designee. (d) “Cost” as applied to any project financed under the provisions of this chapter, means the reasonable and necessary costs incurred for carrying out all works and undertakings necessary or incident to the accomplishment of any project, including all necessary developmental, planning and feasibility studies, surveys, plans and specifications; architectural, engineering, financial, legal or other special services; site assessments, remediation, containment, and demolition or removal of existing structures; the costs of acquisition of land and any buildings and improvements thereon, including the discharge of any obligation of the seller of such land, buildings or improvements; labor; materials, machinery and equipment; the funding of accounts and reserves that the Authority may require; the reasonable costs of financing incurred by the local government in the course of the development of the project; carrying charges incurred prior to completion of the project, and the cost of other items that the Commissioner determines to be reasonable and necessary. (e) “Department” means the Department of Planning and Natural Resources. (f) “Institutional Controls” means a legal or institutional measure that subjects the property owner to limit activities at or access to a particular property in order to ensure protection of human health and the environment, and to expedite property reuse. (g) “Innocent landowner” means a person who holds any title, security interest or any other interest in a Brownsfield site and who acquired ownership of the real property after the release of hazardous substances occurred. (h) “No further action letter” means a written determination by the Department that based upon an evaluation of the historical use of a particular site, or of an area of concern or areas of concern at that site, as applicable, and any other investigation or action the department determines necessary, there are no discharged contaminants present at the site, at the area of concern or areas of concern, at any other site to which a discharge originating at the site has migrated, or that any discharged contaminants present at the site or that have migrated from the site have been remediated in accordance with applicable remediation regulations. (i) “Participant” means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, governmental body, public service authority, or any other legal entity that has applied to and has been accepted into the Brownsfield Voluntary Cleanup Program. (j) “Person” means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, governmental body, public service authority, or any other legal entity. (k) “Project” means any part of the following activities necessary or desirable for the restoration and redevelopment of a Brownsfield site: environmental or cultural resource site assessments, monitoring, remediation, cleanup, or containment of property to remove hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, solid wastes or petroleum, the lawful and necessary removal of human remains, the appropriate treatment of grave sites, and the appropriate and necessary treatment of significant archaeological resources, or the stabilization or restoration of structures listed on or eligible for the Virgin Islands Historic Landmarks Register, demolition and removal of existing structures, or other site work necessary to make a site or certain real property usable for economic development, and development of a remediation and reuse plan. (l) “Preliminary assessment” means the first phase in the process of identifying areas of concern and determining whether contaminants are or were present at a site or have migrated or are migrating from a site, including the initial search for and evaluation of, existing site specific operational and environmental information, both current and historic, to determine if further investigation concerning the documented, alleged, suspected or latent discharge of any contaminant is required. An evaluation of historic information shall be conducted from 1945 to the present, and any search for an evaluation of additional information the Department may require relating to ownership and use of the site prior to 1945 if such information is available through diligent inquiry of the public records. (m) “Remedial action” means those actions taken at a site or offsite if a contaminant has migrated or is migrating there from, as may be required by the department, including the removal, treatment, containment, transportation, securing, or other engineering or treatment measures, whether to an unrestricted use or otherwise, designed to ensure that any discharged contaminant at the site or that has migrated or is migrating from the site, is remediated in compliance with the applicable health risk or environmental standards. (n) “Remedial investigation” means a process to determine the nature and extent of a discharge of a contaminant at a site or a discharge of a contaminant that has migrated or is migrating from the site and the problems presented by a discharge, and may include data collected, site characterization, sampling, monitoring, and the gathering of any other sufficient and relevant information necessary to determine the necessity for remedial action and to support the evaluation of remedial actions if necessary. (o) “Remediation” or “remediate” means all necessary actions to investigate and clean up or respond to any known, suspected, or threatened discharge, including, as necessary, the preliminary assessment, site investigation, remedial investigation, and remedial action, but does not include the payment of compensation for damage to, or loss of, natural resources. (p) “Site investigation” means the collection and evaluation of data conducted pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated under this chapter, adequate to determine whether or not discharged contaminants exist at a site or have migrated or are migrating from the site at levels in excess of the applicable remediation standards. (q) “Redevelopment agreement” means an agreement between the Government of the Virgin Islands and a developer under which the developer agrees to perform any work or undertaking necessary for the remediation of the contaminated site located at the site of the redevelopment project, and for the clearance, development or redevelopment, construction or rehabilitation of any structure or improvement of commercial, industrial or public structures or improvements within an area of real property whereon a contaminated site is located pursuant to section. [sic] (r) “Remediation” or “remediate” means all necessary actions to investigate and or respond to any known, suspected, or threatened discharge of contaminants, including, as necessary, the preliminary assessment, site investigation, remedial investigation, and remedial action, as those terms are defined in section. [sic] (s) “Remediation costs” means all reasonable costs associated with the remediation of a contaminated site; but does not include any costs incurred in financing the remediation. (t) “Territory” means the Government of the Virgin Islands. (u) “Voluntary Clean Up Program Sites” means the Program established under this chapter. (v) “Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Act” means the provisions codified at 19 V.I.C., § 155. (w) “Virgin Islands Water Pollution Control Act” means the provisions codified at 12 V.I.C. § 181 et seq. (x) “Underground Storage Tank Act” means the provisions codified at 12 V.I.C. § 651 et seq. (y) “Virgin Islands Air Pollution Control Act” means the provisions codified at 12 V.I.C. § 201 et seq. (z) “Resource Conservation and Recovery Act” means the provisions codified at 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq.