Section 39135 April 8, 2001, Sec./Art. 3

Definition of Terms - For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall be defined as follows:

(a) "Cave" means any naturally occurring void, cavity, recess or system of interconnected passages beneath the surface of the earth or within a cliff or ledge and which is large enough to permit an individual to enter, whether or not the entrance, located either in private or public land, is naturally formed or man made. It shall include any natural pit, sinkhole or other feature which is an extension of the entrance. The term also includes cave resources therein, but not any vug, mine tunnel, aqueduct or other manmade excavation.

(b) "Cave resources" includes any material or substance occurring naturally in caves, such as animal life, plant life, including paleontological and archaeological deposits, cultural artifacts or products of human activities, sediments, minerals, speleogems and speleothems.

(c) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)

(d) "Speleogem" means relief features on the walls, ceilings and floor of any cave or lava tube which are part of the surrounding hedrock, including but not limited to anastomoses, scallops, meander niches, petromorphs and rock pendants in solution caves and similar features unique to volcanic caves.

(e) "Speleothem" means any natural mineral formation or deposit occurring in a cave or lava tube, including but not limited to any stalactite, stalagmite, helictite, cave flower, flowstone, concretion, drapery, rimstone or formation of clay or mud.

(f) "Significant Cave" refers to a cave which contains materials or possesses features that have archaeological, cultural, ecological, historical or scientific value as determined by the DENR in coordination with the scientific community and the academe.