[Adopted 6-14-1974 by Ord. No. 1974-2;
amended in its entirety 4-8-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-2]
Unless the context specifically and clearly
indicates otherwise, the meaning of the terms used in this article
shall be as follows:
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance, waterborne waste
or form of energy ejected or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing,
trade or business process or from the development, recovery or processing
of natural resources, as distinct from sanitary sewage, which is allowed
to be discharged into the sewer system by the Board of Directors of
the Authority, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, or allowable by rules
and regulations of the Authority.
Lancaster Area Sewer Authority (LASA) or City of Lancaster
Sewer Department, in their respective service areas within the Township
of Lancaster.
[Amended 5-9-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-02]
An engineer retained or employed by the Authority, including
any authorized member of the staff of such engineer.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Any property within this municipality upon which there is
erected any structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation,
occupancy or use by human beings or animals and from which structure
sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes shall be or may be discharged.
Any property situate in the municipality used wholly or in
part for the manufacture, processing, cleaning, laundering, or assembling
of any product, commodity or article, or any other property situate
in this municipality from which wastes, in addition to or other than
sanitary sewage, are discharged.
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or waterborne wastes
or form of energy ejected or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing,
trade or business process or from the development, recovering or processing
of natural resources, but not sanitary sewage.
That part of the sewer system extending from a sewer to the
curbline or, if there shall be no curbline, to the edge of the street
abutting the property affected or, if no such lateral shall be provided,
then lateral sewer or service connection shall mean that portion of,
or place in, a sanitary sewer which is provided for the connection
of any service line.
An engineer retained or employed by the municipality or any
authorized member of the staff of such engineer.
The Township of Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
and its duly authorized representatives or agents.
Any outlet into a watercourse, ditch, pond, lake or other
body of surface water or groundwater.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property situated in the municipality.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, society,
corporation or other group.
Any sewer mains, lateral sewers from a sewer main to a service
line or house connection, sewage ejector and/or pumping stations,
sewer force mains and all appurtenant facilities owned and operated
by an individual, corporation, homeowners' association or other person
or entity other than a municipal authority or a political subdivision
and used in the furnishing of sewer services.
Toilets, sinks and other plumbing fixtures and related piping
intended to receive and discharge sanitary sewage into a service line.
The normal water-carried household and toilet waste from
any improved property, excluding, however, the effluent from septic
tanks or cesspools, rain, stormwater and groundwater, as well as roof
or surface water, drainage of percolating or seeping waters, or accumulation
thereof, whether underground or in cellars or basements.
A sewer which is part of the sewer system and which carries
sanitary sewage and/or allowable industrial waste discharged into
the sewer system, and to which stormwater, surface water, and groundwater
are not intentionally admitted.
That part of the main house drain or sewer line extending
from a point five feet outside the outer building wall or foundation
wall to its connection with the lateral sewer.
Devices and/or structures or facilities owned by the Authority
for the treatment and disposal of sanitary sewage and industrial waste.
Any pipe or conduit constituting a part of the sewage system
and used or usable for sewage collection or transportation purposes.
Sewer mains, lateral sewers from a sewer main to service
line or house connection, sewage ejector and/or pumping stations,
sewer force mains, sewage treatment plants, and all appurtenant facilities
operated by the Authority in furnishing sewage services.
A pipe or conduit which carries stormwater, surface water,
drainage and certain industrial water discharges, such as cooling
and air-conditioning waters.
A public way including any highway, street, road, lane, court,
public square, alley or other passageway.
Any person in possession of a whole or a part of improved
property who is not an owner.
A.Â
The owner of any improved property situate in the
municipality and abutting on, adjoining or adjacent to, any Street,
easement or right-of-way in which there shall have been constructed
a sanitary sewer forming part of the sewer system, where said property
is accessible thereto and any part of the principal building constructed
on such improved property is within 150 feet of such sewer, shall
at his own expense install suitable sanitary facilities and service
lines therein and connect such facilities directly with such sewer
in accordance with the provisions of this article within 90 days after
the date of official notice from this municipality so to do, which
notice shall have been given by personal service or as otherwise provided
or permitted by law. In the event any owner of any such improved property
shall refuse or neglect to connect such property with such sewer within
said ninety-day period, the municipality or its duly authorized agent
(the Authority), or the agents of the municipality or said Authority,
may enter upon such property and construct such connection. In such
case, the proper officials of this municipality shall, upon completion
of the work, send an itemized bill of the cost of construction of
such connection to such owner, which bill shall be payable forthwith.
In case of neglect or refusal by such owner of such property to pay
said bill within 30 days thereafter, it shall be the duty of said
officials of this municipality to cause a municipal lien for said
construction to be filed, the same to be subject in all respects to
the general law provided for the filing and recovery of municipal
liens.
B.Â
All sanitary sewage and industrial waste from any improved property, after connection of such improved property with a sewer as required under Subsection A, shall be discharged into a sewer, subject to such limitations and restrictions as shall be established herein or otherwise shall be established by this municipality or by the Authority through the Authority's Rules and Regulations Concerning Connections to and Use of the Sanitary Sewer System (dated July 1997 and amended December 20, 2001), the Authority's Specifications for Additions and Extensions to the Sewer System (dated July 1997), and the Lancaster Area Sewer Authority Industrial Waste Resolution (dated July 1981 and amended December 1992, May 1996, and September 1997).
C.Â
It shall be unlawful to discharge or permit the discharge
of sanitary or industrial waste or other polluted water into any natural
outlet within this municipality, unless such discharge is pursuant
to a permit issued by, or with the approval of, the DEP.
D.Â
It shall be unlawful to construct or maintain any
privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool, sinkhole or similar receptacle
intended for the disposal of sanitary sewage within this municipality
where such Sewage emanates from any improved property which the owner
thereof is required to connect to the sewer system. No privy vault,
cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle shall be connected
with a sewer at any time. Each such party vault, cesspool, sinkhole,
septic tank or similar receptacle shall be abandoned upon the making
of such connection to the sewer system and, at the request of this
municipality, shall be cleansed and filled under the direction and
supervision of this municipality; and any such privy vault, cesspool,
sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle not so abandoned and,
if required by this municipality, cleansed and filled, shall constitute
a nuisance and such nuisance shall be abated as provided by law at
the expense of the owner of such improved property.
E.Â
There is hereby reserved to the Authority and this
municipality the right to refuse to any person the privilege of connecting
any improved property to a sewer, or to compel discontinuance of the
use of any sewer by any person, or to compel the pretreatment of industrial
wastes, in order to prevent discharge into the sewer system of wastes
which may be deemed by the Authority, the Authority Engineer, this
municipality or the Municipal Engineer, to be harmful to the sewer
system or to have a deleterious effect on sewage treatment processes
or to be injurious to personnel operating the sewer system.
F.Â
There is hereby reserved to the Authority and this
municipality the right to refuse to any person the privilege of connecting
any private sewer system to the Authority's sewer system unless the
following conditions have been met:
(1)Â
The plans and specifications for such private sewer
system have been reviewed and approved by the Authority prior to construction
and such private sewer system has been constructed in accordance with
such approved plans and the standards established by this municipality
and the Authority from time to time for such private sewer system;
(2)Â
The Authority has inspected such private sewer system prior to connection to the Authority's sewer system and has determined that the private sewer system has been constructed in accordance with the requirements set forth in this Subsection F; and
(3)Â
The owner of the private sewer system has entered
into a written agreement with this municipality or the Authority agreeing
to maintain and repair the private sewer system and posting such security
as this municipality or the Authority, in their reasonable discretion,
shall deem adequate to secure the obligations of the owner of the
private sewer system with respect to the maintenance and repair of
the private sewer system.
A.Â
No person shall uncover, connect with, make any opening
into or use, alter or disturb in any manner any sewer or the sewer
system without first making application for and obtaining a permit,
in writing, from the Authority.
B.Â
Application to the Authority for a permit required
under this article shall be made by the owner of the improved property
to be served in such form as may be prescribed by the Authority. The
application shall be accompanied by the required connection and/or
tapping fee required by the Authority.
C.Â
No person other than this municipality, the Authority,
or their agents, shall make or cause to be made the connection of
any improved property with a lateral sewer until such person shall
have fulfilled each of the following conditions:
(1)Â
Such person shall have notified the Authority of the
desire and intention to connect to a lateral sewer;
(2)Â
Such person shall apply for and obtain a permit as
required by this article;
(3)Â
Such person shall have given the Authority at least
24 hours' notice of the time when such service line is to be connected
and such connection made so that the Authority, as the agent of this
municipality, may inspect the service line, the work of connection
and perform necessary testing.
D.Â
All costs and expenses of construction of a service
line and all costs and expenses in connection of such service line
to a lateral sewer shall be borne by the owner of the improved property
to be connected, and such owner shall indemnify and save harmless
the Authority and this municipality from all loss or damage that may
be occasioned, directly or indirectly, as a result of the construction
of a service line or the connection of a service line to a lateral
sewer.
E.Â
Whenever the surface of any public street, sidewalk
or cartway is disturbed by the construction of a service line, it
shall be the responsibility of the applicant for connection to obtain
street opening permits from this municipality, or highway occupancy
permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Unless
otherwise required, all surfacing materials must be restored in kind,
thickness and construction to the satisfaction of the Authority.
A.Â
Service lines and connections to lateral sewers and
connections to the sewer system shall be constructed in accordance
with rules and regulations promulgated by the Authority.
B.Â
No service line or connection to a lateral sewer
or connection to the sewer system shall be covered until the same
has been inspected and approved by the Authority. If any part of a
service line or connection to a lateral sewer is covered before being
so inspected and approved, such service line or such connection shall
be uncovered for inspection, at the request of the Authority, at the
cost and expense of the owner of the improved property to be served
through such service line.
C.Â
Every service line shall be maintained in a sanitary
and safe operating condition by the owner of the improved property
served. Whenever the Authority or this municipality has reason to
believe any service line has become defective, such service line shall
be subject to test and inspection. Defects found upon such inspection
shall be corrected as required by the Authority or this municipality
at the cost and expense of such owner.
Any person, individual, builder or developer,
desiring or required by law to construct or install sanitary sewers,
lateral sewers and service lines to serve a house or any housing unit
within a real estate development prior to construction or installation,
shall make proper written application to the Authority for a special
permit, pursuant to rules and regulations of the Authority applicable
thereto.
A.Â
It shall be unlawful for any owner or Tenant of improved
property located in the municipality to discharge or cause to be discharged
into the sewer system any of the following: stormwater; surface drainage;
ground drainage; roof runoff; subsurface drainage; cooling water;
drainage from tile fields; unpolluted process waters; and any other
substance other than sanitary sewage or allowable industrial waste.
Without limiting the foregoing, this provision makes it illegal for
any owner or tenant of improved property to use a sump pump, gutter,
downspout, or other device to conduct stream, storm, roof, ground,
or surface water into the sewer system; provided however, floor drains
or cellar drains may be connected to the service line or sewer system.
B.Â
Stormwater, industrial cooling water, unpolluted process
waters and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged into
specifically designated storm sewers, if available, or to a natural
outlet approved by the Authority Engineer or the Municipal Engineer.
C.Â
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any sewage into the sewer system which shall contain any substances
or possesses characteristics in violation of rules and regulations
promulgated by the Authority.
D.Â
The admission into the sewer system of any polluted water, sanitary sewage or industrial waste containing any of the substances or possessing the characteristics referred to in Subsection C shall be subject to the review and approval of the Authority Engineer. Where necessary, the owner of the property or premises producing such waters or wastes shall provide, at his own expense, such preliminary treatment as may be necessary to reduce objectionable characteristics or constituents to within the maximum limitations provided for in the rules and regulations of the Authority or to control the quantities or rates of discharge of such waters or wastes. Construction drawings, specifications and other pertinent information relating to the proposed preliminary treatment facilities shall be prepared by the owner, at his expense, and shall be submitted for the approval of the Authority Engineer, and no construction of such facilities shall be commenced until said approval is obtained in writing. Where preliminary treatment facilities are provided, the same shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner, at his expense. In lieu of introducing untreated or partly treated polluted waters or industrial waste into the sewer system, the owner of the premises producing such wastes may construct and operate, at his expense, private waste treatment facilities with the effluent discharged to a natural outlet, provided such facilities are constructed and operated in compliance with all requirements of the DEP. Where private waste treatment facilities are provided, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner, at his expense.
E.Â
It shall be unlawful for any plumber or any other
person to install or connect, or permit to be installed or connected
to the service line or any part of the sewer system, any device or
system designed to discharge any substance other than sanitary sewage
or allowable industrial waste into the sewer system. Without limiting
the foregoing, this provision makes it illegal for any plumber or
other persons to install or connect or permit to be installed or connected,
a sump pump, gutter, downspout or other device to conduct stream,
storm, roof, ground, or surface water into the sewer system; provided,
however, floor drains and cellar drains may be connected to the service
line or sewer system.
F.Â
Any owner or Tenant of improved property located in
the municipality who currently has any roof drains or downspouts connected
to the service line or sewer system shall have said roof drains or
downspouts disconnected within 30 days of the effective date of this
article.
G.Â
Owners or tenants of improved property located in
the municipality shall disconnect or cause to be disconnected any
sump pump connected to the service line or sewer system within 30
days of the effective date of this article, without being subject
to the penalties provided for in this article. At the expiration of
the thirty-day period, any owner or tenant of improved property who
has, maintains, or permits a sump pump to be connected to the service
line or sewer system shall be subject to the penalties provided for
by this article.
A.Â
The Authority is hereby designated and appointed as
the agent of this municipality for the purpose of adopting or promulgating
rules and regulations for the use of the sewer system and connection
thereto and receiving all applications for permits required under
the provisions of this article, designating place of connection, establishing
rules and regulations on the materials and construction of the sewer
system, private sewer system, service line, house connection, lateral
sewer, and service connection, and carrying out all inspections, observations,
measurements, samplings and testing required or permitted hereunder.
B.Â
The municipality specifically adopts and expressly
incorporates by reference in their entirety, as though set forth in
full herein:
[Amended 8-8-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-3; 12-13-2010 by Ord. No.
2010-05; 5-9-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-02]
The Authority Engineer and other duly authorized
representatives or employees of the Authority and of this municipality
bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted,
at all reasonable times, to enter upon any premises connected or about
to be connected or required to be connected to the sewer system for
the purpose of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and
testing in accordance with the provisions of this article. The Authority
Engineer and other duly authorized representatives or employees of
the Authority and of this municipality bearing proper credentials
and identification shall be permitted, at all reasonable times, to
enter any private sewer system connected or about to be connected
or required to be connected to the sewer system for the purpose of
inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing.
No person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently
damage, destroy, deface, block or otherwise tamper with any sewer
or any other structure or equipment which is part of the sewer system.
A.Â
Any person who shall violate any provision of this article, other than §§ 209-9E and 209-12, shall be served with a written notice stating the nature of the violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender, within the period of time stated in such notice, shall permanently cease all violations. Any person who shall continue any such violation beyond such time limit or otherwise violate this article shall be liable, upon summary conviction, for a first offense and, upon summary conviction, for each subsequent offense, to a fine of not more than $1,000 for each violation, together with costs of prosecution in each case. Each day a violation shall continue shall be deemed and shall be taken to be a separate offense and shall be punishable as a separate violation.
C.Â
Fines and costs imposed under the provisions of this
article shall be enforceable and recoverable in the manner at the
time provided by applicable law.
D.Â
Any person violating any of the provisions of this
article, in addition to becoming liable for a fine and costs of prosecution,
shall be liable to the Authority for any expense, loss or damage occasioned
the Authority by reason of such violation.
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.