[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Franklin 9-8-1997 by Ord. No. 97-12. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Garbage, rubbish and refuse — See Ch. 83.
Water — See Ch. 135.
It is the intent of this chapter to regulate the use, spreading, disposal and/or processing of sludge for the protection of persons and property and for the preservation of the public health, safety and welfare of the Township of Franklin, County of Warren, and its inhabitants and to ensure that any sites wherein sludge shall be utilized, spread, disposed of and/or processed are maintained and operated in such a manner as to minimize surface and ground water contamination, air pollution, odors and other annoyances from the use of such sludge.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DISPOSAL
The disposal of sludge or the application of wet or dry sludge on agricultural or other lands.
PERSON
Includes any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.
PROCESSING OF SLUDGE
The use of sludge for the production of energy, fertilizer or other useable materials.
SLUDGE
Any solid, precipitates and liquids produced as a result of the storage or treatment of domestic or industrial sewage or any solid, semisolid or liquid waste generated from a municipal, industrial or other sewerage treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility or any other such waste having similar characteristics and effects.
Effective September 8, 1997, it shall be a violation of this chapter for this person to utilize, spread, dispose and/or process sludge within the Township of Franklin without first having an approved sludge management plan (SMP) in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. The utilization, spreading, disposal and/or processing of sludge without an approved plan in place shall subject the operator to fines and penalties set forth within this chapter. The plan shall address the impact of the use, processing, etc., of sludge on soil, water, air, animal and plant resources.
Application for approval of the SMP required by this chapter shall be submitted to the Township Clerk no later than October 1 of each year for the succeeding year's approval upon forms provided by the Township Clerk and shall be signed and verified by the applicant and shall contain the following information:
A. 
The name and address of the applicant: if an individual, the name, address and business address; if a partnership, the name, address, residence and business address of each partner; if a corporation, the name and address of all officers and all stockholders, including all names and addresses of persons who own an excess of 10% of the shares of the corporation: if not a corporation of the State of New Jersey, whether the same is authorized to do business in the State of New Jersey; the name and address of all partners, if any stockholder is a partnership; and the name and address of all officers, if the stockholder is a corporation.
B. 
The name and address of the owner of the property for which approval of the SMP is sought. In the event that the applicant is not the owner, then the written consent of the owner must be furnished.
C. 
The sludge management plan (SMP) prepared by a professional, reasonably qualified in the disciplines related to the sound and healthful management of sludge and/or sludge byproducts, who shall be acceptable to the Township Committee and who shall, in either case, be familiar with environmental regulations relating to uses of property, including but not limited to the Water Pollution Control Act,[1] the Clean Air Act, the New Jersey Pollution Discharge Elimination System, the Solid Waste Management Act[2] and any other similar environmental laws and regulations. The SMP shall contain the following information:
(1) 
The estimated amount of sludge expected to be utilized, spread, processed and/or disposed of (as well as a breakdown for each category) each year for which approval is sought from January 1 to December 31.
(2) 
A detailed description of how the sludge will be utilized, spread, processed, stored and/or disposed of.
(3) 
A detailed description of the treatment the sludge will receive to minimize odors and water runoff.
(4) 
Removal of sludge.
(a) 
No sludge may be removed without the prior express consent of the Township of Franklin.
(b) 
For any sludge which shall be removed from the approved premises and disposed of in Franklin Township, set forth:
[1] 
A list of the location or locations to which the sludge will be taken, including the name of each owner and the block and lot numbers of each property.
[2] 
The expected use of the sludge at the location or locations where the sludge will be taken.
[3] 
The amount of sludge expected to be removed.
[4] 
The estimated range of dates on which the sludge is removed and shall be deleted.
(c) 
The information required by this subsection may be provided by the applicant later than the date of application but no later than 30 days prior to the removal of any sludge from the premises. No sludge shall be removed without this portion of the plan being in place. If any sludge is removed without permission of the Township of Franklin, applicant shall be deemed to be in default of his SMP and the same shall be immediately revoked. Applicant shall immediately cease any and all utilization, spreading, disposal and/or processing of sludge. Applicant will be given 60 days in which to have all sludge removed from the Township of Franklin and will be barred from submitting future SMP applications to the Township.
(5) 
A plan to regulate the emission into the air and such action as to minimize the emission of substances which may be detrimental to humans coming in contact with them or a statement that no such plan is feasible.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 58:10A-1 et seq.
[2]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 13:1E-1 et seq.
A. 
Each application shall be accompanied by a fee of $500. Each applicant shall be required to place an amount in escrow and shall be responsible for all costs of review and approval of the applicant's application. Such costs may include, but are not limited to, engineers, consultants, attorneys or other persons necessary, in the Township Committee's opinion, for the approval of the applicant's application. The escrow deposit required shall be $1,200 for an initial application and $1,200 with respect to a review application, provided that said amounts may be adjusted downwards or upwards by resolution of the Township Committee upon a finding of reasonable cause for such adjustment.
B. 
The fees shall not be prorated and may be adjusted from time to time to approximate the cost of administration of various provisions of this chapter.
C. 
No review shall be taken until the required deposits are made. If applicant shall fail to make the initial required deposits or future deposits as may be required by the Township of Franklin, applicant's SMP shall be considered void and applicant shall immediately cease any and all sludge usage, spreading, processing and/or disposal. Applicant will then have 60 days in which to remove all sludge from the Township of Franklin. Thereafter, applicant shall be barred from submitting further SMP's for approval.
A. 
All applications shall be reviewed by the Township's consultants and forwarded to the Township Committee along with their recommendations. The Township Committee shall determine whether the application is in accordance with the chapter and environmental and health practices and, if so, shall approve the SMP. The application shall be filed with the Township no later than October 1 of each year for the year commencing on January 1 of the next year. The Township's consultants shall review the proposed plans submitted by the applicant by December 1 of each year. If the applicant and the Township's consultants cannot agree on the SMP by January 1, then the Township Committee shall hold a hearing to approve or disapprove the SMP as provided by the applicant.
B. 
Franklin Township retains the right to limit the amount of sludge any applicant seeks to utilize, spread, dispose of and/or process in order to protect the safety and well being of the residents of Franklin Township. If, at any time, the applicant exceeds the limit established by the Township of Franklin, applicant shall be deemed to have violated the terms and conditions of the SMP and shall immediately cease any and all use, spreading, processing and/or disposal of sludge. Thereafter, applicant will be given 60 days in which to remove all sludge from the Township of Franklin and shall be prohibited from submitting SMP's for review and approval at any time in the future.
The Warren County Health Department, in conjunction with the Township's consultants, is hereby designated as inspector whose duties shall be to conduct inspections of the improved premises in order to determine whether operations are being conducted in accordance with the requirements contained within this chapter and the sludge management plan. Said inspection shall be conducted at a minimum of once per month or as frequently as deemed necessary by the Warren County Health Department and/or the Township's consultants. The inspector shall submit, upon request, written reports of all such inspections to the Township Committee. The inspector is further designated as the enforcement officer of this chapter and shall, in conjunction with the Township's consultants, investigate any and all alleged violations thereof.
It is hereby required that, as a condition for the approval of the SMP, the applicant, if he is the owner thereof, pay any delinquent property taxes or assessments on the property wherein the property or activity for which the approval is sought or wherein such business or activities are to be conducted.
A. 
Delivery of sludge to the approved premises may be conducted only from Monday through Saturday during daylight hours.
B. 
All vehicles, including tires and undercarriage, used in the delivery of sludge to the approved premises shall be washed, if necessary, before arriving to the approved premises to reduce the dissemination of sludge beyond the boundaries of the approved premises.
C. 
No sludge shall be tracked from the site at which the sludge is utilized, processed and/or disposed of. In the event that the sludge is deposited on the roadway in the Township, the same shall be removed and cleaned within 24 hours.
A. 
The penalty portions of this chapter shall be enforced on behalf of the Township of Franklin by the Warren County Health Department and/or consultant's of the Township of Franklin which shall investigate any violation of this chapter coming to their attention whether by complaint by any interested person or otherwise. If a violation is found to exist or have existed, the Warren County Health Department or Township of Franklin shall have the authority to prosecute a claim in the Municipal Court or to seek such other relief as may be available to it. Any proceedings pursuant to this chapter may also be instituted and prosecuted by the Township in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
B. 
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter or any provision of any plan approved in accordance with this chapter shall, for each such violation or offense, be fined up to $1,000 per day in which a violation or offense of any provision of this chapter exists or continues, unabated.
C. 
Additional relief:
(1) 
Additional relief may include:
(a) 
Revocation of SMP/cease immediate operation.
(b) 
A temporary or permanent injunction.
(c) 
Assessment against the violator for the cost of any investigation, inspection, monitoring which led to the establishment of the violation and for the reasonable cost of preparing and litigating the case; such cost may be awarded only if the Township prevails in its case.
(d) 
Assessment against the violator for any costs incurred by the Township in removing, correcting or terminating the adverse effects upon environmental quality or public health resulting from any violation of this chapter.
(e) 
Assessment against the violator for compensatory damages for any loss or destruction of wildlife, fish, water quality and/or any actual damages caused by any violation of the sort.
(2) 
Assessment against any violator hereof may be paid from, but shall not be limited to or by the terms or amount of, the performance bond or letter of credit posted by such person.
The Township Committee may, by resolution, waive the compliance by an applicant with specific technical requirements or technical defects in an application upon finding by the Committee that:
A. 
Reasonable cause exists for the grant of such waiver.
B. 
Compliance with the technical requirement or cure of the technical defect will cause undue hardship to the applicant.
C. 
The health and safety purposes of this chapter will not be materially adversely affected by such waiver.
D. 
A change in conditions subsequent to the approval makes it necessary to amend the terms of the SMP.