Unless a different meaning is required by the context, the following definitions apply to this Article and Articles 21A and 21B of this Chapter:
(1) "Area of the State" means a municipality, a county, a portion of a county or a municipality, or other substantial geographic area of the State designated by the Commission.
(2) "Commission" means the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission.
(3) "Department" means the Department of Environmental Quality.
(4) "Person" includes individuals, firms, partnerships, associations, institutions, corporations, municipalities and other political subdivisions, and governmental agencies.
(5) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Environmental Quality.
(6) "Waters" means any stream, river, brook, swamp, lake, sound, tidal estuary, bay, creek, reservoir, waterway, or other body or accumulation of water, whether surface or underground, public or private, or natural or artificial, that is contained in, flows through, or borders upon any portion of this State, including any portion of the Atlantic Ocean over which the State has jurisdiction. (1987, c. 827, s. 152A; 1989, c. 727, s. 218(103); 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 1004, s. 19(b); 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 1028, s. 1; 1997-443, s. 11A.119(a); 2015-241, s. 14.30(u), (v).)