---
kind: "section"
citation: "43 C.F.R. § 37.4"
title: "43"
number: "37.4"
heading: "Definitions."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/43/37.4"
---

# §37.4. Definitions.

- (a) Authorized officer means the agency employee delegated the authority to perform the duties described in this part.
- (b) 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, including any cave resource therein, and which is large enough to permit a person to enter, whether the entrance is excavated or naturally formed. Such term shall include any natural pit, sinkhole, or other feature that is an extension of a cave entrance or which is an integral part of the cave.
- (c) Cave resources means any materials or substances occurring in caves on Federal lands, including, but not limited to, biotic, cultural, mineralogic, paleontologic, geologic, and hydrologic resources.
- (d) **Federal lands,—** as defined in the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act, means lands the fee title to which is owned by the United States and administered by the Secretary of the Interior.
- (e) Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
- (f) Significant cave means a cave located on Federal lands that has been determined to meet the criteria in [§ 37.11(c)](/cfr/43/37.11.md?p=c).

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 4301-4309; 43 U.S.C. 1740.

### Source

Source: 58 FR 51554, Oct. 1, 1993, unless otherwise noted.