[Adopted 7-6-2017 by Ord.
No. 336]
The purpose of this Part is to establish procedures for the
use and maintenance of existing and new holding tanks designed to
receive and retain sewage, whether from residential or commercial
uses. It is hereby declared that the enactment of this article is
necessary for the protection, benefit and preservation of the health,
safety and welfare of the inhabitants of this municipality.
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in this Part shall be as follows:
The Commissioners of Lower Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania.
A watertight receptacle, whether permanent or temporary,
which receives and retains sewage conveyed by a water-carrying system
and is designed and constructed to facilitate the ultimate disposal
of the sewage at another site.
Any property within the Township upon which there is erected
a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy
or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sewage
shall or may be discharged.
The Township of Lower Pottsgrove, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
Any substance that contains any of the water products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals
and any noxious or deleterious substances being harmful or inimical
to the public health or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of
water for domestic water supply or for recreation or any substance
which constitutes pollution under the Clean Stream Law (35 P.S. §§ 691.1
through 691.1001).
The agency is hereby authorized and empowered to undertake within
the Township the control and methods of holding tank use, sewage disposal
and sewage collection and transportation thereof.
The agency is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt such
rules and regulations concerning the sewage which it may deem necessary
from time to time to affect the purposes herein.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the agency shall be
in conformity with the provisions herein, all other ordinances of
the Township, and all applicable laws, and applicable rules and regulations
of the administrative agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The agency shall have the right and power to fix, alter, charge
and collect rates, assessments, and other charges in the area served
by its facilities at reasonable and uniform rates as authorized by
applicable law.
A.
The collection and transportation of all sewage from any improved
property utilizing a holding tank shall be done solely by or under
the direction and control of the agency, and the disposal thereof
shall be made only at such site or sites as may be approved by the
Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B.
The agency will receive, review and retain pumping receipts from
permitted holding tanks.
C.
The agency will complete and retain annual inspection reports for
each permitted holding tank.
D.
The agency shall receive, review and retain disposal receipts for
all loads from disposal sites which shall be approved by PADEP.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes a holding tank
shall:
A.
Maintain the holding tank in conformance with this Part or any ordinance
of the Township, the provisions of any applicable law, and the rules
and regulations of the agency and any administrative agency of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B.
Permit only the agency or its agent to inspect holding tanks on an
annual basis.
C.
Permit only a properly bonded and approved hauling agency to collect,
transport, and dispose of the contents therein to a disposal site
approved by the Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
D.
Deposit with the Township a bond or other approved financial security
in the amount of $5,000 per holding tank. The purpose of the bond/financial
security is to ensure installation, maintenance, disposal and removal
of said holding tank(s) and sewage. The bond/financial security shall
be renewed each year and shall contain a provision that the Township
be notified in writing, via certified mail, by the bonding company
or the issuer of the financial security of the termination of said
bond/financial security at least 30 days prior to the expiration/termination
date.
Any person who violates any provisions of § 185-61 or 185-62 above shall, upon conviction thereof by summary proceedings, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000 for each day the violation continues and, in default of said fine and costs, undergo imprisonment in the county prison for a period not to exceed 30 days.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this Part, any violation of § 185-61 or 185-62 above shall constitute a nuisance and shall be abated by the municipality or the agency by either seeking mitigation of the nuisance or appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.
If any sentence, clause, section or part of this Part is for
any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such
unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity shall not affect or
impair any part of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections,
or parts of this Part. It is hereby declared as the intent of the
Lower Pottsgrove Township Board of Commissioners that this Part would
have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal, or invalid sentence,
clause, section or part thereof, not been included herein.
