[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Suffern 3-25-1974 by L.L. No. 6-1974. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Noise — See Ch. 175.
This chapter shall be known as a "Quarrying and Blasting Law
of the Village of Suffern."
This chapter is intended to enhance the public safety, peace
and good order and welfare of the people of the Village of Suffern
through the regulation of quarrying and the monitoring of blasting
in the Village of Suffern.
No person or corporation shall engage in quarrying in the Village
of Suffern unless they have in their continuous employ a blaster who
is a holder of a blaster's license issued by the State of New York
and maintained continuously in force. A photocopy or other clear reproduction
of the blaster's license or licenses currently in force shall be kept
continuously on file with the Village Clerk.
A.
Every person or corporate entity engaged in blasting activities shall
maintain continuously in force a liability and property damage insurance
policy in an amount not less than $1,000,000/$3,000,000.
[Amended 12-12-1988 by L.L. No. 4-1988]
B.
Any person or corporate entity required to provide public liability
coverage shall file with the Village Clerk a certificate of insurance
showing the name of the insurance company, the amount, the name of
the insured, the proper corporate name and the corporate address of
the insured and the name and address of the agent or broker through
whom it was placed and who is responsible for attesting to the existence
of the coverage.
A.
It shall be unlawful to blast before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m.
on any day of the year.
B.
It shall be unlawful to carry on any excavation or stone-crushing
operation before 7:00 a.m. on any day of the year and after 7:00 p.m.
or beyond the official local hours of daylight, whichever may be later,
nor shall any stone crushing, excavation or blasting be done on Sunday,
except with the written approval of the Superintendent of Public Works.
C.
In addition to the aforementioned, it shall be unlawful to conduct
any quarrying operations whatsoever before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00
p.m. on any day of the year. "Quarrying operations" shall be deemed
to include, but not be limited to, the loading of trucks or the transportation
of any product or material resulting from quarrying or blasting operations.
[Added 9-9-1985 by L.L. No. 6-1985]
A.
Blasting activities shall be so conducted that ground vibration,
airborne noise or maximum total energy ratio measured at the nearest
structure or building not owned or leased by the individual or corporation
conducting the blasting does not exceed the standards established
by this chapter.
B.
Ground vibrations emanating from any blast, at a distance measured
by the distance from the blast to the closest structure or building
not owned or used by the entity conducting the blast, shall not exceed
0.75 inches per second for frequencies less than 40 hertz (Hz) or
1.92 inches per second for frequencies of 40 hertz or more.
[Amended 12-12-1988 by L.L. No. 4-1988]
C.
Airborne noise emanating from blasting activities shall not exceed
a one-hundred-twenty-decibel scale at the location aforesaid.
D.
The maximum total energy ratio shall not exceed 1.0 at the location
aforesaid.
E.
Maximum poundage.
[Amended 12-12-1988 by L.L. No. 4-1988]
(1)
In the absence of monitoring by approved instrumentation, in order
to restrict vibrations to the levels specified therein, the maximum
charge per delay (expressed in pounds) may not exceed (D/60) x (D/60),
where D (expressed in feet) is the distance from the blast site to
the closest structure or building not owned or used by the entity
conducting the blast.
(2)
The following table illustrates said requirement at the distances
shown therein:
|
Quarry Blasting Quantity-Distance Table
| |
|---|---|
|
Distance from Blast Area to Nearest Structure, Neither
Quarry-Owned nor Leased
(feet)
|
(D/60)2
Maximum Poundage per Delay Interval
|
|
100
|
3
|
|
200
|
11
|
|
300
|
25
|
|
400
|
44
|
|
500
|
69
|
|
600
|
100
|
|
700
|
136
|
|
800
|
178
|
|
900
|
225
|
|
1,000
|
278
|
|
1,200
|
400
|
(3)
A contemporaneous log of all such blasts must be maintained, and
proof of compliance with said standards shall be furnished to the
Village of Suffern upon demand.
A.
A record shall be kept of every blast and showing the amount of total
powder and total number of holes, and all records shall be retained
at least until the end of the calendar year next following the year
in which the record is made. All such records shall be open to inspection
by the Superintendent of Public Works of the Village of Suffern, and
one copy of each shall be furnished to him without charge at his request.
At least one copy of the records required by this section shall be
maintained at the quarry, mine office or construction blasting site
at all times.
B.
The recorded data shall include:
(1)
The number of holes.
(2)
The kind and quantity of explosives.
(3)
The kind of blasting caps and delay interval.
(4)
The date and time of firing.
(5)
The name of the person in responsible charge of loading and firing
and the blasting permit number.
(6)
The signature of the blaster making the report.
(7)
The name and location of the quarry or construction site.
A.
The Superintendent of Public Works may order, on his initiative and
without prior consent, four recordings of the seismic and air pressure
effects of the blasting activity of any regular quarrying operation
within the Village during the course of each calendar year.
B.
Seismograph and air pressure readings of blasts shall be taken by
a qualified person regularly or frequently employed in the business
of seismograph readings, competent to qualify as an expert witness
to the results.
C.
The recorded data shall include the following:
(1)
Identification of instrument used.
(2)
Name of observer.
(3)
Name of interpreter.
(4)
Distance and direction of recording station from area of detonation.
(5)
Type of ground at recording station or location in structure.
(6)
Maximum amplitudes for all components, as well as resultant for all
recorded frequencies of vibrations.
(7)
Duration of motion in excess of 0.001 of an inch.
(8)
Frequency of ground motion in cycles per second.
(9)
Maximum energy ratio or particle velocity.
(10)
A copy of the photographic records of seismograph readings.
D.
If any such monitoring shall disclose an apparent violation of the
limits established by this chapter, the Superintendent of Public Works
may require four additional recordings. All recording shall be at
the expense of the corporation or person conducting the activity but
under the exclusive supervision, schedule and control of the Superintendent
of Public Works of the Village of Suffern. Any additional blasts found
to exceed the limits of this chapter shall occasion an additional
series of four recordings.
A.
No charge of explosives may be detonated by any blaster within the
Village of Suffern unless the blaster or responsible official of the
organization conducting the activity shall, not less than 24 hours
before the scheduled blast and during the course of regular Village
business hours, have advised the Superintendent of Public Works of
the proposed blasting date and anticipated time.
B.
The advisory may be oral. The Superintendent of Public Works shall
maintain a log of such calls in a book reserved for that purpose.
The log shall indicate the date and hour the advisory was received,
from whom received, by whom received and the date and anticipated
time of the blast.
The violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or failure
to comply therewith shall be a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine
which shall not exceed $2,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three
months, or both such fine and imprisonment; and each day such violation
shall be permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. The
enforcement of this chapter by the imposition of a fine or imprisonment
as aforementioned shall not prevent the Village of Suffern from enforcing
this chapter by injunctive action or by any other authorized means.
[1]
Editor's Note: The amendment of the penalty provisions of
this section by L.L. No. 4-1988 further provided that pursuant to
the authority of Municipal Home Rule Law, § 10, Subdivision
1(ii)e(3), the Board of Trustees exercises its authority to amend
the Village Law, and, to the extent that it is inconsistent with Village
Law § 20-2006, Subdivision 1-a, the Board of Trustees exercises
such authority to supersede Village Law § 20-2006. Subdivision
1-a.
The Superintendent of Public Works shall have the authority
to waive any of the requirements of this chapter when such waiver
is requested, in writing, and when the granting of the waiver, in
his opinion, would not be detrimental to the general health, welfare
and safety of the residents of the Village of Suffern.
