[Adopted 6-2-1976]
The purpose of this article is to establish procedures for the
use and maintenance of holding tanks designed to receive and retain
sewage whether from residential or commercial uses and 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 Schuylkill Township.
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
A watertight receptacle which receives and retains sewage
and is designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of
the sewage at another site. Holding tanks include but are not limited
to the following:
CHEMICAL TOILETA toilet using chemicals that discharge to a holding tank.
RETENTION TANKA holding tank where sewage is conveyed to it by a water carrying system.
VAULT PIT PRIVYA holding tank designed to receive sewage where water under pressure is not available.
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 or any property upon which such a structure
is intended to be erected if public sewerage disposal is to be available
within 20 months.
Schuylkill Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, as well as any person in total or partial control or possession
of any property located in the Township.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity, but shall not include Schuylkill Township.
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 substance 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. It is contemplated
that the term "sewage" shall be broadly construed and shall be coextensive
within the meaning ascribed thereto under the regulations of the Department
of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[1]
The Board of Supervisors of Schuylkill Township, Chester
County, Pennsylvania.
The Supervisors are hereby authorized and empowered to undertake
within the Township the issuance of permits and the regulations of
operation of holding tanks for the collection, transportation, and
disposal of sewage, which said power shall include but shall not be
limited to requirements of reasonable security to insure the proper
maintenance, operation, pumping, cleaning and removal by the owner
and/or operator thereof.
The Supervisors are hereby authorized and empowered to adopt
such rules and regulations concerning holding tanks and the operation,
maintenance, pumping, cleaning and removal of holding tanks which
it may deem necessary from time to time to effect the purposes herein.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the Township shall
be in conformity with the provisions herein; all other ordinances
of the Township and all applicable laws and applicable rules and regulations
of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Any rates or charges established, fixed, altered, changed, charged
or collected shall be subject to the approval of applicable regulatory
bodies.
No holding tank shall be installed to serve more than a single
dwelling unit or a single commercial enterprise except by an authorized
public utility duly approved, franchised and regulated by the Public
Utility Commission of Pennsylvania.
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 Township and the issuing Board of
Supervisors 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.
The owner of any property that utilizes a holding tank shall:
A.Â
Maintain the holding tank in conformance with this or any other ordinance
of this Township, the provisions of any applicable law and the rules
and regulations of the Township and any administrative agency of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the County of Chester.
B.Â
Permit only a duly authorized person or its agent to collect, transport,
and dispose of the contents therein.
Any person who violates the provisions of § 280-16 or who fails to obtain a permit prior to installation of any holding tank or who violates any term or condition of this article or any regulations promulgated thereunder or who violates any valid order promulgated pursuant to this article or who violates the terms of any permit or any condition to which the permit is used shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding, be sentenced to pay a fine of $1,000 and costs, and in default of said payment of fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment in the county prison for a period not in excess of 30 days. Each day that any such violation continues shall be deemed a separate offense, punishable by like fine or imprisonment. Each separate dwelling unit or commercial or industrial enterprise served by or connected to a holding tank, constructed or operated without a valid permit shall, in like manner, be deemed a separate offense punishable by a like fine or imprisonment.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article,
any violation of this article shall constitute a nuisance and shall
be abatable by the Supervisors by appropriate equitable or legal relief
by a court of competent jurisdiction.
No holding tank shall be installed unless public sewers shall
be available to serve the premises within 20 months after the date
of this article. Further, the authority to continue to operate and
maintain the said holding tank shall be deemed to expire 20 months
after the issuance of said permit or at such time as other appropriate
means of collection, treatment and/or disposal are available to the
occupied lands served thereby, whichever be the earlier date.
