[Ord. 435, 6/4/1984, § 1]
The purpose of this Part 2 is to establish procedures for the
use and maintenance of holding tanks designed to receive and retain
domestic sewage, whether from residential or commercial use, and it
is hereby declared that the enactment of this Part 2 is necessary
for the protection, benefit and welfare of the residents of Warminster
Township.
[Ord. 435, 6/4/1984, § 2; as amended by Ord. 578,
6/13/2002, § 1]
1.Â
AUTHORITY
HOLDING TANK
A.Â
B.Â
C.Â
IMPROVED PROPERTY
OWNER
PERSON
SEWAGE
Definitions. Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates
otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this Part 2 shall be as follows:
Warminster Township Municipal Authority, a Pennsylvania municipal
authority.
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 in a water-carrying plumbing system.
VAULT PIT PRIVYA holding tank designed to receive sewage where water is not available for carrying sewage in a conventional plumbing system.
Any property within the Township upon which there is erected
a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy
or use by human beings and from which structure sewage shall or may
be discharged.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
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.
2.Â
Rights and privileges granted. The Authority is hereby authorized
and empowered to undertake within the Township the control of methods
of holding tank sewage disposal and the collection and transportation
thereof.
3.Â
Rules and regulations. The Authority is hereby authorized and empowered
to adopt such rules and regulations concerning sewage where it may
deem necessary from time to time to effect the purposes herein.
4.Â
Rules and regulations to be in conformity with applicable law. All
such rules and regulations adopted by the Authority 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.
5.Â
Rates and charges. The Authority shall have the right and power to
fix, alter, charge and collect rates, assessments, and other charges
in the area served by its facilities at reasonable and uniform rates
as authorized by applicable law.
6.Â
Exclusiveness of rights and privileges. The collection and transportation
of all sewage from any improved property utilizing a holding tank
shall be done solely in accordance with the regulations adopted by
the Authority, 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 and the Bucks County
Department of Health.
7.Â
Duties of improved property owner. The owner of an improved property
that utilizes a holding tank shall:
A.Â
Maintain the holding tank in conformance with this Part 2 or any
ordinance of this Township, the provisions of any applicable law,
and the rules and regulations of the Authority or any administrative
agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including, but not limited
to, the Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania and the Bucks County Department of Health.
B.Â
Permit only the licensed waste hauler designated in the hauling contract
approved by and on file with the Authority to collect, transport,
and dispose of the contents therein.
8.Â
Connection to public sewer. The provisions of this Part 2 and the
request for installation of a holding tank shall only be made for
any property owner whose property is more than 150 feet from a public
sewer. Provisions relating to sewage supersede this Part 2. No holding
tank shall be permitted if the property is within 150 feet of any
such public sewer.
9.Â
Proposed connection to public sewer line. Holding tanks shall only
be permitted where the Authority has scheduled for construction and
use, within two years of the time of the request for such holding
tank, the extension of a public sewer line to the improved property
which is the subject matter of the request for such holding tank.
Should such connection not be made within the two-year period from
the date of the request, the use of the improved property shall be
in violation of this Part 2, and the Township or the Authority shall
take such steps as deemed necessary to terminate such use. The Authority
shall have the right to extend such two-year period should such extension
be in the best interest of the Township, the Authority and the owner
of the improved property.
10.Â
The applicant for the request of such holding tank shall place in
escrow such funds as are required by the Authority for his share of
the cost of the construction of the new public sewer line or connection.
This section shall be subject to regulations of the Authority.
11.Â
The applicant shall further place in escrow with the Authority sufficient
funds to cover the cost of removing the contents of the holding tank
and properly disposing of such contents should such become necessary.
The provisions of this section shall be subject to further regulations
by the Authority.
12.Â
The applicant shall file with the Authority copies of executed contracts
with licensed haulers and approved disposal sites. The Warminster
Township Municipal Authority sewage treatment plant is not an approved
disposal site. Such licensed haulers and approved disposal sites shall
be subject to approval by the Department of Environmental Protection
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Bucks County Department
of Health.
13.Â
The holding tank shall be designed, constructed, and operated in
conformance with the regulations of the Department of Environmental
Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Bucks County Department
of Health, the Authority, and any other applicable regulations of
any other governmental agency.
14.Â
Violations. Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this Part 2, upon conviction thereof in an action brought before a Magisterial District Judge in the manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs, and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90 days. Each day that a violation of this Part 2 continues or each section of this Part 2 which shall be found to have been violated shall constitute a separate offense.
