[Adopted 2-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1992-L]
A.
This article shall be known and may be cited as a
"Sewage Management Program for Conewago Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania."
B.
As mandated by the municipal codes, the Clean Streams
Law (35 P.S. §§ 691.1 to 691.1001) and the Pennsylvania
Sewage Facilities Act (Act of January 24, 1966, P.L. 1535, as amended,
35 P.S. § 750.1 et seq., known as "Act 537"), municipalities
have the power and the duty to provide for adequate sewage treatment
facilities and for the protection of the public health by preventing
the discharge of untreated or inadequately treated sewage. The Official
Sewage Facilities Plan for Conewago Township, Adams County, indicates
that it is necessary to formulate and implement a sewage management
program to effectively prevent and abate water pollution and hazards
to the public health caused by improper treatment and disposal of
sewage.
C.
The purpose of this article is to provide for the
inspection, maintenance and rehabilitation of on-lot sewage disposal
systems; to further permit the Township to intervene in situations
which are public nuisances or hazards to the public health; and to
establish penalties and appeal procedures necessary for the proper
administration of a sewage management program.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The Act of January 24, 1966, P.L. 1535, as amended, 35 P.S.
§ 750.1 et seq., known as the "Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities
Act."
A certified sewage enforcement officer, code enforcement
officer, professional engineer, plumbing inspector, municipal secretary
or any other qualified or licensed person who is delegated by the
Township to function within specified limits as the agent of the Township
to carry out the provisions of this article.
The Board of Supervisors of Conewago Township, Adams County,
Pennsylvania.
An individual employed by the Township to administer and
enforce other ordinances in the Township.
Any system, whether publicly or privately owned, for the
collection of sewage from two or more lots, and the treatment and/or
disposal of the sewage on one or more lots or at any other site.
The Board of Supervisors of Conewago Township, Adams County,
Pennsylvania.
The Board of Supervisors of Conewago Township, Adams County,
Pennsylvania.
A system of piping, tanks or other facilities serving a single
lot and collecting and disposing of sewage in whole or in part into
the soil or into any waters of this commonwealth.
The condition which occurs when an on-lot sewage disposal
system discharges sewage onto the surface of the ground, into groundwaters
of this commonwealth, into surface waters of the commonwealth, backs
up into the building connected to the system or otherwise causes a
nuisance hazard to the public health or pollution of groundwater or
surface water or contamination of public or private drinking water
wells. Systems shall be considered to be malfunctioning if any of
the conditions noted above occur for any length of time during any
period of the year.
Conewago Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania.
A comprehensive plan for the provision of adequate sewage
disposal systems, adopted by the Township and approved by the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection, pursuant to the Sewage Facilities
Act.[1]
Any system for disposal of sewage involving pretreatment
and subsequent disposal of the clarified sewage into the soil for
final treatment and disposal, including both individual sewage systems
and community sewage systems.
Any individual, association, public or private corporation
for profit or not for profit, partnership, firm, trust, estate, department,
board, bureau or agency of the commonwealth, political subdivision,
municipality, district, authority or any other legal entity whatsoever
which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties. Whenever
used in any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty or imposing
a fine or imprisonment, the term "person" shall include the members
of an association, partnership or firm and the officers of any local
agency or municipal, public or private corporation for profit or not
for profit.
Work done to modify, alter, repair, enlarge or replace an
existing on-lot sewage disposal system.
A portion of a lot or a developed property, sized to allow
the installation of a subsurface sewage disposal area, which is reserved
to allow that installation in the event of the malfunction of the
originally installed on-lot sewage disposal system.
Any substance that contains any of the waste 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 which constitutes
pollution under the Act of June 22, 1937 (P.L. 1987, No. 394), known
as the "Clean Streams Law," as amended.[2]
The official of the local agency who issues and reviews permit
applications and conducts such investigations and inspection as are
necessary to implement Act 537 and the rules and regulations promulgated
thereunder.
Any area or areas of a municipality for which a sewage management
program is recommended by the municipality's adopted Act 537 Official
Sewage Facilities Plan. A sewage management district may encompass
the entire municipality.
A comprehensive set of legal and administrative requirements
encompassing the requirements of this article and other administrative
requirements adopted by the Township to effectively enforce and administer
the part.
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or other parcel
of land into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions
of land, including changes in existing lot lines. The enumerating
of lots shall include as a lot that portion of the original tract
or tracts remaining after other lots have been subdivided therefrom.
From the effective date of this article, its
provisions shall apply in any portion of the Township identified in
the Township Act 537 Official Sewage Facilities Plan as a sewage management
district. Within such an area or areas, the provisions of this article
shall apply to all persons owning any property serviced by an on-lot
sewage disposal system and to all persons installing or rehabilitating
on-lot sewage disposal systems. If necessary, the entire Township
may be identified as a sewage management district.
A.
No person shall install, construct or request bid
proposals for construction or alter an individual sewage system or
community sewage system or construct or request bid proposals for
construction or install or occupy any building or structure for which
an individual sewage system or community sewage system is to be installed
without first obtaining a permit indicating that the site and the
plans and specification of such system are in compliance with the
provisions of the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act[1] and the standards adopted pursuant to that Act.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 750.1.
B.
No system or structure designed to provide individual
or community sewage disposal shall be covered from view until approval
to cover the same has been given by the Township Sewage Enforcement
Officer. If 72 hours have elapsed, excepting Sundays and holidays,
since the Sewage Enforcement Officer issuing the permit received notification
of completion of construction, the applicant may cover said system
or structure unless permission has been specifically refused by the
Sewage Enforcement Officer.
C.
The Township may require applicants for sewage permits
to notify the Township's certified Sewage Enforcement Officer of the
schedule for construction of the permitted on-lot sewage disposal
system so that inspection(s), in addition to the final inspection
required by Act 537, may be scheduled and performed by the Township's
certified Sewage Enforcement Officer.
D.
No building or occupancy permit shall be issued by
the Township or its Codes Enforcement Officer for a new building which
will contain sewage generating facilities until a valid sewage permit
has been obtained from the Township's certified Sewage Enforcement
Officer.
E.
No building or occupancy permit shall be issued and
no work shall begin on any alteration or conversion of any existing
structure, if said alteration or conversion will result in the increase
or potential increase in sewage flows from the structure, until the
Township's Codes Enforcement Officer and the structure's owner receive
from the Township's Sewage Enforcement Officer either a permit for
alteration or replacement of the existing sewage disposal system or
written notification that such a permit will not be required. The
certified Sewage Enforcement Officer shall determine whether the proposed
alteration or conversion of the structure will result in increased
sewage flows.
F.
Sewage permits may be issued only by a certified Sewage
Enforcement Officer employed by the Township for that express purpose.
The Department of Environmental Protection shall be notified by the
Township as to the identity of their currently employed certified
Sewage Enforcement Officer.
A.
Any supplements or revisions to the Township's Official
Sewage Facilities Plan which are prepared pursuant to the applicable
regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
for subdivision or development of land within an identified sewage
management district shall provide for the testing, identification
and reservation of an area of each lot or developed property suitable
for the installation of a replacement on-lot sewage disposal system.
This requirement is in addition to the testing, identification and
reservation of an area for the primary sewage disposal system.
B.
No permit shall be issued for any proposed new on-lot
sewage disposal system on any newly created or subdivided property
in any sewage management district unless and until a replacement area
is tested, identified and reserved.
A.
Any on-lot sewage disposal system may be inspected
by the Township's authorized agent at any reasonable time as of the
effective date of this article.
B.
The inspection may include a physical tour of the
property, the taking of samples from surface water, wells, other groundwater
sources, the sampling of the contents of the sewage disposal system
itself and/or the introduction of a traceable substance into the interior
plumbing of the structure served to ascertain the path and ultimate
destination of wastewater generated in the structure.
C.
The Township's authorized agent shall have the right
to enter upon land for the purposes of inspections described above.
D.
An initial inspection may be conducted by the Township's
authorized agent within one year of the effective date of this article
for the purpose of determining the type and functional status of each
sewage disposal system in the sewage management district. A written
report shall be furnished to the owner of each property inspected
and a copy of said report shall be maintained in the Township records.
E.
A schedule of routine inspections may be established
by the Township if necessary to assure the proper function of the
systems in the sewage management district.
F.
The Township and its authorized agent shall inspect
systems known to be, or alleged to be, malfunctioning. Should said
inspections reveal that the system is indeed malfunctioning, the Township
and its authorized agent shall take action to require the correction
of the malfunction. If total correction is not technically or financially
feasible in the opinion of the authorized agent and a representative
of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, then action
by the property owner to mitigate the malfunction shall be required.
G.
There may arise geographic areas within the Township
where numerous on-lot sewage disposal systems are malfunctioning.
A resolution of these area-wide problems may necessitate detailed
planning and Township sponsored revision to that area's Act 537 Official
Sewage Facilities Plan. When a DEP-authorized Official Sewage Facilities
Plan has been undertaken by the Township, mandatory repair or replacement
of individual malfunctioning sewage disposal systems within the study
area may be delayed, at the discretion of the Township, pending the
outcome of the plan revision process. However, the Township may compel
immediate corrective action whenever a malfunction, as determined
by Township officials and the Pennsylvania DEP, represents a serious
public health or environmental threat.
Only normal domestic wastes shall be discharged
into any on-lot sewage disposal system. The following shall not be
discharged into the system:
A.
Industrial waste;
B.
Automobile oil and other nondomestic oil;
C.
Toxic or hazardous substances or chemicals, including
but not limited to pesticides, disinfectants, acids, paints, paint
thinners, herbicides, gasoline and other solvents; and
D.
Clean surface water or groundwater, including water
from roof or cellar drains, springs, basement sump pumps and french
drains.
A.
Any person owning a building served by an on-lot sewage
disposal system which contains a septic tank shall have the septic
tank pumped by a qualified pumper/hauler within six months of the
effective date of this article. Thereafter, that person shall have
the tank pumped at least once every three years. Receipts from the
pumper/hauler shall be submitted to the Township within the prescribed
six-month and three-year required pumping periods.
B.
The required pumping frequency may be increased at
the discretion of the authorized agent if the septic tank is undersized,
if solids buildup in the tank is above average, if the hydraulic load
on the system increases significantly above average, if a garbage
grinder is used in the building, if the system malfunctions or for
other good cause shown. If any person can prove that their system
tank had been pumped within three years of the six-month anniversary
of the effective date of this article, then the Township may delay
that person's initial required pumping to conform to the general three-year
frequency requirement.
C.
Any person owning a property served by a septic tank
shall submit, with each required pumping receipt, a written statement,
from the pumper/hauler or from any other qualified individual acceptable
to the Township, that the baffles in the septic tank have been inspected
and found to be in good working order. Any person whose septic tank
baffles are determined to require repair or replacement shall first
contact the Township's certified Sewage Enforcement Officer for approval
of the necessary repair.
D.
Any person owning a building served by an on-lot sewage
disposal system which contains an aerobic treatment tank shall follow
the operation and maintenance recommendations of the equipment manufacturer.
A copy of the manufacturer's recommendations and a copy of the service
agreement shall be submitted to the Township within six months of
the effective date of this article. Thereafter, service receipts shall
be submitted to the Township at the intervals specified by the manufacturer's
recommendations. In no case may the service or pumping intervals for
aerobic treatment tanks exceed those required for septic tanks.
E.
Any person owning a building served by a cesspool
or dry well shall have that system pumped according to the schedule
prescribed for septic tanks. As an alternative to this scheduled pumping
of the cesspool or dry well, the owner may secure a sewage permit
from the certified Sewage Enforcement Officer for a septic tank to
be installed preceding the cesspool or dry well. For a system consisting
of a cesspool or dry well preceded by an approved septic tank, only
the septic tank must be pumped at the prescribed interval.
F.
The Township may require additional maintenance activity
as needed, including but not limited to cleaning and unclogging of
piping, servicing and the repair of mechanical equipment, leveling
of distribution boxes, tanks and lines, removal of obstructing roots
or trees, the diversion of surface water away from the disposal area,
etc.
A.
No person shall operate and maintain an on-lot sewage
disposal system in such a manner that it malfunctions. All liquid
wastes, including kitchen and laundry wastes and water softener backwash,
shall be discharged to a treatment tank. No sewage system shall discharge
untreated or partially treated sewage to the surface of the ground
or into the waters of the commonwealth unless a permit to discharge
has been obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection.
B.
The Township shall issue a written notice of violation
to any person who is an owner of a property in the Township which
is found to be served by a malfunctioning on-lot sewage disposal system
or which is discharging raw or partially treated sewage without a
permit.
C.
Within seven days of notification by the Township
that a malfunction has been identified, the property owner shall make
application to the Township's certified Sewage Enforcement Officer
for a permit to repair or replace the malfunctioning system. Within
30 days of initial notification by the Township, construction of the
permitted repair or replacement shall commence. Within 60 days of
the original notification by the Township, the construction shall
be completed unless seasonal or unique conditions mandate a longer
period, in which case the Township shall set an extended completion
date.
D.
The Township's certified Sewage Enforcement Officer
shall have the authority to require the repair of any malfunction
by the following methods: cleaning, repair or replacement of components
of the existing system, adding capacity or otherwise altering or replacing
the system's treatment tank, expanding the existing disposal area,
replacing the existing disposal area, replacing a gravity distribution
system with a pressurized system, replacing the system with a holding
tank, other alternatives as appropriate for the specific site.
E.
In lieu of, or in combination with, the remedies described in Subsection D above, the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer may require the installation of water conservation equipment and the institution of water conservation practices in structures served. Water-using devices and appliances in the structure may be required to be retrofitted with water-saving appurtenances or they may be required to be replaced by water-conserving devices and appliances. Wastewater generation in the structure may also be reduced by requiring changes in water usage patterns in the structure served. The use of laundry facilities may be limited to one load per day or discontinued altogether, etc.
F.
In the event that the rehabilitation measures in Subsections A through E are not feasible or do not prove effective, the Township may require the owner to apply to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for a permit to install an individual spray irrigation treatment system or a single residence treatment and discharge system. Upon receipt of said permit, the owner shall complete construction of the system within 30 days.
G.
Should none of the remedies described above prove
totally effective in eliminating the malfunction of an existing on-lot
sewage disposal system, the property owner is not absolved of responsibility
for that malfunction. The Township may require whatever action is
necessary to lessen or mitigate the malfunction to the extent that
it feels necessary.
The Township, upon written notice from the Township
Sewage Enforcement Officer that an imminent health hazard exists due
to failure of a property owner to maintain, repair or replace an on-lot
sewage disposal system as provided under the terms of this article,
shall have the authority to perform, or contract to have performed,
the work required by the certified Sewage Enforcement Officer. The
owner shall be charged for the work performed and, if necessary, a
lien shall be entered therefor in accordance with law.
A.
All septage originating within the Township sewage
management district shall be disposed of at sites or facilities approved
by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Approved
sites or facilities shall include the following: septage treatment
facilities, wastewater treatment plants, composting sites and approved
farm land.
B.
Septage of pumper/haulers operating within the Township
sewage management district shall operate in a manner consistent with
the provisions of 35 P.S. §§ 6018.101 through 6018.1003.
A.
The Township shall fully utilize those powers it possesses
through enabling statutes and ordinances to effect the purposes of
this article.
B.
The Township shall employ qualified individuals to
carry out the provisions of this article. Those employees shall include
a certified Sewage Enforcement Officer and may include a Codes Enforcement
Officer, secretary, administrator or other persons as required. The
Township may also contract with private qualified persons or firms
as necessary to carry out the provisions of this article.
C.
All permits, records, reports, files and other written
material relating to the installation, operation and maintenance and
malfunction of on-lot sewage disposal systems in the sewage management
district shall become the property of the Township. Existing and future
records shall be available for public inspection during required business
hours at the official Township office. All records pertaining to sewage
permits, building permits, occupancy permits and other aspects of
the Township's sewage management program shall be made available,
upon request, for inspection by representatives of the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection.
D.
The Township Board of Conewago Township, Adams County,
shall establish all administrative procedure necessary to properly
carry out the provisions of this article.
E.
The Township Board of (Supervisors of) Conewago Township,
Adams County, may establish a fee schedule, and subsequently collect
fees, to cover the cost to the municipality of Conewago Township,
Adams County, administering this program.
A.
Appeals from decisions of the Township or its authorized
agents under this article shall be made to the Conewago Township Board
of Supervisors, in writing, within 30 days from the date of the decision
in question.
B.
The appellant shall be entitled to a hearing before
the Conewago Township Board of Supervisors at its next regularly scheduled
meeting, if the appeal is received at least 14 days prior to that
meeting. If the appeal is received within 14 days of the next regularly
scheduled meeting, the appeal shall be heard at the subsequent meeting.
The Township shall thereafter affirm, modify or reverse the aforesaid
decision. The hearing may be postponed for a good cause shown by the
appellant or the Township. Additional evidence may be introduced at
the hearing, provided that it is submitted with the written notice
of appeal.
C.
A decision shall be rendered, in writing, within 30
days of the date of the hearing. If a decision is not rendered within
30 days, the relief sought by the appellant shall be deemed granted.
[Amended 12-20-1999 by Ord. No. 1999-Q]
Any person who violates or permits a violation
of this article shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil
enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township before a Magisterial
District Judge, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus all court costs,
including reasonable attorney's fees, incurred by the Township in
the enforcement of this article. Each day a violation exists shall
constitute a separate offense. Further, the appropriate officers or
agents of the Township are hereby authorized to enforce compliance
by filing an action in equity in lieu of a civil action filed before
a Magisterial District Judge.
