[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 1]
This Part shall be known and may be cited as the "Township of
Ross Waste Reduction and Recycling Ordinance."
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 2]
This Part is enacted pursuant to the Solid Waste Management
Act, P.L. 380, No. 97, July 7, 1980, 35 P.S. § 6018.101
et seq., and the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction
Act, No. 101, July 28, 1988, 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq.
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 3]
1.Â
It is the purpose of this Part to:
A.Â
Require waste reduction and recycling as a means of managing municipal
waste, conserving resources and supplying energy.
B.Â
Protect the public health, safety and welfare from the short and
long term dangers of collection, transportation, processing and storage
of municipal waste.
C.Â
Utilize, wherever feasible, the capabilities of private enterprise
in accomplishing the desired objectives of an effective, comprehensive
solid waste management program.
D.Â
Establish and implement within the Township of Ross a recycling program
to return valuable materials to productive use, to conserve energy
and to protect capacity at municipal waste processing or disposal
facilities.
E.Â
Recycle at least 25% of all municipal waste and source-separated
recyclable materials generated in the Township of Ross on and after
January 1, 1997.
F.Â
The weight of volume of municipal waste generated per capita in the
Township of Ross on January 1, 1997, should, to the greatest extent
practicable, be less than the weight or volume of municipal waste
generated per capita on the effective date of this Part.
G.Â
Each person living or working in the Township of Ross shall be taught
the economic, environmental, and energy value of recycling and waste
reduction, and shall be encouraged through a variety of means to participate
in such activities.
H.Â
The Township of Ross shall, to the greatest extent practicable, procure
and use products and materials with recycled content, and procure
and use materials that are recyclable.
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 4; as amended by Ord.
2288, 4/12/2010]
1.Â
ABATEMENT
AVERAGE DAILY VOLUME
COMMONWEALTH AGENCY
DEGRADABLE PLASTIC BEVERAGE CARRIER
DEPARTMENT
DISPOSAL
FEASIBILITY STUDY
HOST MUNICIPALITY
LEAF WASTE
LOCAL PUBLIC AGENCY
(1)Â
(2)Â
(3)Â
MANAGEMENT
MUNICIPAL RECYCLING PROGRAM
MUNICIPAL WASTES
MUNICIPAL WASTE LANDFILL
MUNICIPALITY
OPERATOR
PERSON
PLASTIC BEVERAGE CARRIER
POLLUTION
POST-CONSUMER MATERIAL
PROCESSING
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
PUBLIC AGENCY
RECYCLED CONTENT
RECYCLING
RECYCLING FACILITIES
RESIDUAL WASTE
RESOURCE RECOVERY FACILITY
(1)Â
(2)Â
(3)Â
(4)Â
SOLID WASTE
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT
SOURCE-SEPARATED RECYCLABLE MATERIALS
STORAGE
TRANSPORTATION
TREATMENT
WASTE REDUCTION
The following words
and phrases when used in this Part shall have the meanings given to
them in this section unless the context indicates otherwise:
The restoration, reclamation, recovery, etc., of a natural
resource adversely affected by the activity of a person.
The mean daily volume received at a facility taking into
account weather, seasonable variations, scheduled community cleanup
days and other factors.
The commonwealth and its departments, boards, commissions,
and agencies, commonwealth owned universities, and the State Public
School Building Authority, the State Highway and Bridge Authority,
and any other authority now in existence or hereafter created or organized
by the commonwealth.
Plastic beverage carriers that degrade by biological processes,
photodegradation, chemodegradation or degradation by other natural
processes. The degradation process does not produce or result in a
residue or by-product considered to be hazardous waste.
The Department of Environmental Protection of the commonwealth
and its authorized representatives.
The deposition, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or
placing of solid waste into or on the land or water in a manner that
the solid waste or a constituent of the solid waste enters the environment,
is emitted into the air or is discharged to the waters of this commonwealth.
A study which analyzes a specific municipal waste processing
or disposal system to assess the likelihood that the system can be
successfully implemented including, but not limited to, an analysis
of the prospective market, the projected costs and revenues of the
system, the municipal waste-stream that the system will rely upon
and various options available to implement the system.
The municipality other than the county within which a municipal
waste landfill or resource recovery facility is located or is proposed
to be located.
Leaves, garden residue, shrubbery and tree trimmings, and
similar material, but not including grass clippings.
Counties, cities, boroughs, towns, townships, school districts,
and any other authority now in existence or hereafter created or organized
by the commonwealth.
All municipal or school or other authorities new in existence
or hereafter created or organized by any county, city, borough, township
or school district or any combination thereof.
Any and all other public bodies, authorities, councils of governments,
officers, agencies or instruments of the foregoing, whether exercising
a governmental or proprietary function.
The entire process, or any part thereof, of storage, collection,
transportation, processing, treatment and disposal of solid wastes
by any person engaging in such process.
A source separation and collection program for recycling
the Township of Ross's waste or source separated recyclable materials,
or a program for designated drop-off points or collection centers
for recycling the Township of Ross waste or source-separated recyclable
materials, that is operated by or on behalf of the Township of Ross.
The term includes any source separation and collection program for
composting yard waste that is operated by or on behalf of the Township
of Ross. The term shall not include any program for recycling construction/demolition
waste or sludge from sewage treatment plants or water supply treatment
plants.
Any garbage, refuse, industrial lunchroom or office waste
and other material including, solid, liquid, semisolid or contained
gaseous material, resulting from operation of residential, municipal,
commercial or institutional establishments and from community activities
and any sludge not meeting the definition of residual or hazardous
waste in the Solid Waste Management Act, 35 P.S. § 6018.101
et seq., from a municipal, commercial, or institutional water supply
treatment plant, waste treatment plant or air pollution control facility.
The term does not include source-separated recyclable materials.
Any facility that is designed, operated or maintained for
the disposal of municipal waste, whether or not such facility possesses
a permit from the Department under the Solid Waste Management Act,
35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq. The term does not include any
facility that is used exclusively for disposal of construction/demolition
waste or sludge from sewage treatment plants or water supply treatment
plants.
The Township of Ross, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
A person engaged in solid waste processing or disposal. Where
more than one person is so engaged in a single operation, all persons
shall be deemed jointly and severally responsible for compliance with
the provisions of this Part.
Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, institution,
or cooperative enterprise. In any provisions of this Part prescribing
a fine, imprisonment or penalty, or any combination of the foregoing,
the term "person" shall include the officers and directors of any
corporation or other legal entity having officers and directors.
Plastic rings or similar plastic connectors used as holding
devices in the packaging of beverages including, but not limited to,
all carbonated beverages, liquors, wines, fruit juices, mineral waters,
soda and beer.
Contamination of any air, water, land or other natural resources
of the Township of Ross that will create, or is likely to create,
a public nuisance or to render the air, water, land or other natural
resources harmful, detrimental or injurious to public health, safety
or welfare, or to domestic, municipal, commercial, industrial, agricultural,
recreational or other legitimate beneficial uses, or to livestock,
wild animals, birds, fish or other life.
Any product generated by a business or consumer which has
served its intended end use, and which has been separated or diverted
from solid waste for the purposes of collection, recycling, and disposition.
The term includes industrial by-products that would otherwise go to
disposal or processing facilities. The term does not include internally
generated scrap that is commonly returned to industrial or manufacturing
processes.
Any technology used for the purpose of reducing the volume
or bulk of municipal waste or any technology used to convert part
or all of such waste materials for off-site reuse. Processing facilities
include, but are not limited to, transfer facilities, composting facilities
and resource recovery facilities.
Those activities required to be conducted prior to constructing
a processing or disposal facility that has been shown to be feasible,
including, but not limited to, public input and participation, siting,
procurement and vendor contract negotiations, and market and municipal
waste supply assurance negotiations.
Any commonwealth agency or local public agency.
Goods, supplies, equipment, materials and printing containing
post-consumer materials.
The collection, separation, recovery and sale or reuse of
metals, glass, paper, leaf waste, plastics and other materials which
would otherwise be disposed or processed as municipal waste or the
mechanized separation and treatment of municipal waste (other than
through combustion) and creation and recovery of reusable materials
other than a fuel for the operation of energy.
A facility employing a technology that is a process that
separates or classifies municipal waste and creates or recovers reusable
materials that can be sold to or reused by a manufacturer as a substitute
for or a supplement to virgin raw materials. The term "recycling facility"
shall not mean transfer stations or landfills for solid waste nor
composting facilities or resource recovery facilities.
Any garbage, refuse, other discarded material or other waste,
including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous materials
resulting from industrial, mining and agricultural operations and
any sludge from an industrial, mining or agricultural water supply
treatment facility, waste water treatment facility or air pollution
control facility, provided that it is not hazardous. The term shall
not include coal refuse as defined in the Act of September 24, 1968,
P.L. 1040, No. 318, known as the Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act,
52 P.S. § 30.51 et seq. The term shall not include treatment
sludges from coal mine drainage treatment plants, disposal of which
is being carried on pursuant to and in compliance with a valid permit
issued pursuant to the Act of June 22, 1937, P.L. 1897, No. 394, known
as the Clean Streams Law, 35 P.S. § 691.1 et seq.
A processing facility that provides for the extraction and
utilization of materials or energy from municipal waste that is generated
off-site, including, but not limited to, a facility that mechanically
extracts materials from municipal waste to usable energy, and any
chemical and biological process that converts municipal waste into
a fuel product. The term also includes any facility for the combustion
of municipal waste that is generated off-site, whether or not the
facility is operated to recover energy. The term does not include:
Any composting facility.
Methane gas extraction from a municipal waste landfill.
Any separation and collection center, drop-off point or collection
center for recycling or any source separation or collection center
for composting leaf waste.
Any facility, including all units in the facility, with a total
processing capacity of less than 50 tons per day.
Any waste including, but not limited to, municipal, residual
or hazardous wastes including, solid, liquid, semisolid or contained
gaseous materials. The term does not include coal ash or drill cuttings.
The Act of July 7, 1980, P.L. 380, No. 97, 32 P.S. § 680.1
et seq.
Materials that are separated from municipal waste at the
point or origin for the purpose of recycling.
The containment of any municipal waste on a temporary basis
in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of such waste. It shall
be presumed that the containment of any municipal waste in excess
of one year constitute disposal. This presumption can be overcome
by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.
The off-site removal of any municipal waste at any time after
generation.
Any method, technique or process including, but not limited
to, neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical or biological
character or composition of any municipal waste so as to neutralize
such waste or so as to render such waste safer for transport, suitable
for recovery, suitable for storage or reduced in volume.
Design, manufacture or use of a product to minimize weight
of municipal waste that requires processing or disposal including,
but not limited to:
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 5]
1.Â
Responsibilities. The Township of Ross shall have the power and its
duty shall be to assure the proper and adequate transportation, collection
and storage of municipal waste which is generated or present within
its boundaries, to assure adequate capacity for the disposal of municipal
waste generated within its boundaries by means of the procedure set
forth in § 1111 of the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling
and Waste Reduction Act, 53 P.S. § 4000.1111 and to adopt
and implement a program for the collection and recycling of municipal
waste or source-separated recyclable materials as provided in this
Part.
2.Â
Powers. In carrying out its duties under this section, the Board
of Commissioners may adopt resolutions establishing procedures, regulations
and standards for the recycling, transportation, storage and collection
of municipal wastes, or source-separated recyclable materials which
shall not be less stringent than, and not in violation of or inconsistent
with, the provisions and purposes of the Solid Waste Management Act,
35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq., the Municipal Waste Planning,
Recycling and Waste Reduction Act, 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et
seq., and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto.
3.Â
Duties. The Township of Ross shall implement the provisions of this
Part by collecting, transporting, processing or marketing source separated
materials or may contract, subject to competitive bidding, with any
person to carry out its duties for the recycling, transportation,
collection and storage of municipal waste and source-separated recyclable
materials, if the recycling, transportation, collection or storage
activity or facility is conducted or operated in a manner that is
consistent with the Solid Waste Management Act, 35 P.S. § 6018.101
et seq., the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction
Act, 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq., this Part and the regulation
promulgated pursuant thereto. Any such person shall be jointly and
severally responsible with the Township of Ross when carrying out
its duties for transportation, collection or storage activity or facility.
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 6; as amended by Ord.
2288, 4/12/2010]
The Board of Commissioners hereby requires that all municipal
waste generated within its jurisdiction shall be disposed of or processed
at a designated permitted facility. Such facility shall retain this
part of a plan submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection
pursuant to § 501(a), (b) or (c) of the Municipal Waste
Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act, 53 P.S. § 4000.501(a),(b)
or (c). Upon approval of a municipal waste management plan for the
County of Allegheny by the Department, the site for the disposal or
processing of the Township of Ross waste shall, thereafter, be designated
thereby.
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 7]
1.Â
The Township of Ross hereby establishes and implements a source separation
and collection program for recyclable materials in accordance with
§ 1501 of the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste
Reduction Act, 53 P.S. § 4000.1501. The source separation
and collection program shall include the following regulations:
A.Â
Persons are hereby required to separate at least three materials,
deemed appropriate hereafter, from other municipal waste generated
at their homes, apartments and other residential establishments and
to store such material until collection. At least three materials
shall be designated periodically by resolution from the following:
clear glass, colored glass, aluminum cans, steel and bimetallic cans,
high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated paper and plastics.
Nothing in this Part shall be deemed to impair the ownership of separated
materials by the person who generated them unless and until such materials
are placed at curbside or similar location for collection by the contractor.
B.Â
Persons are hereby required to separate leaf waste from other municipal
waste generated at their homes, apartments and other residential establishments
until collection unless those persons have otherwise provided for
the composting of leaf waste. Leaf waste will be placed in Ross Township
approved bags for collection.
C.Â
Persons must separate high grade office paper, aluminum, corrugated
paper and such other materials as may be designated by the Township
generated at commercial, municipal and institutional establishments
and from community activities and store the recyclable materials until
collection. A person may be exempted from this paragraph if that person
submits documentation to the Township annually indicating that the
designated recyclable materials are being recycled in an appropriate
manner. If recyclable materials are collected by a collector other
than the Township or its authorized agent, the collector shall provide
the occupants of said establishments with the tonnage of materials
recycled during the previous year. Occupants shall then submit an
annual report to the Township reporting the tonnage of materials recycled
during the previous year.
D.Â
Persons in residences must separate recyclable materials from other
refuse. Recyclable materials shall be placed at the curbside in containers
provided by the Township for collection. Any containers provided to
residences for collection of recyclable materials shall be the property
of the Township and shall be used only for the collection of recyclable
materials. Any resident who moves within or from the Township shall
be responsible for leaving the allocated container within the residence
or shall pay the replacement cost of the said container(s). Use of
recycling containers for any purpose other than the designated recycling
program or use of the recycling containers by any person other than
the person allocated such container(s) shall be a violation of this
Part.
E.Â
The contractor shall collect recyclable materials from curbside or
similar locations designated by resolution at least once per month
from each residence or other person generating municipal waste in
the Township of Ross.
F.Â
An owner, landlord, or agent of an owner or landlord of a multi-family
rental housing property with more than two units must comply with
its recycling responsibilities by establishing a collection system
at each property. The collection system must include suitable containers
for collecting and sorting the recyclable materials, easily accessible
locations for the containers, and written instructions to the occupants
concerning the use and availability of the collection system. If recyclable
materials are collected by a collector other than the Township or
its authorized agent, owners, landlords shall submit an annual report
to the Township reporting the tonnage of materials recycled during
the previous year.
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 8]
The Township of Ross shall establish a comprehensive and sustained
public information and education program concerning recycling program
features and requirements. As a part of this program, the Township
Manager shall at least 30 days prior to the initiation of the recycling
program, and at least once every six months thereafter, notify all
persons occupying residential, commercial, institutional and municipal
premises within its boundaries of the requirements of this Part. The
Township Manager shall as he deems necessary and appropriate, place
an advertisement in a newspaper circulating in the Township of Ross,
post a notice in public places where public notices are customarily
posted, including a notice with other official notifications periodically
mailed to residential taxpayers or utilize any combination of the
foregoing.
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 9]
1.Â
Persons who operate a municipal waste landfill, resource recovery
facility or transfer station under contract within the Township of
Ross shall establish at least one drop-off center at the location
designated by the Township of Ross by resolution of the Board of Commissioners,
for the collection and sale of at least three recyclable materials.
The materials shall be chose by the Board of Commissioners pursuant
to a resolution from the following: clear glass, colored glass, aluminum
cans, steel and bimetallic cans, high grade office paper, newsprint,
corrugated paper and plastic. The center shall be located at the facility
or in a place that is easily accessible to persons generating municipal
waste that is processed or disposed at the facility. Each drop-off
center must contain bins or containers where recyclable materials
may be placed or temporarily stored. If the operation of the drop-off
center requires attendants, the center shall be open at least eight
hours per week, including four hours during evenings or weekends,
pursuant to a schedule established by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
2.Â
Each operator shall, at least 30 days prior to the initiation of
the drop-off center program and at least once every six months thereafter,
provide public notice of the availability of the drop-off center.
The operator shall place an advertisement in the newspaper circulating
in the Township of Ross or provide notice in another manner approved
by the Board of Commissioners.
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 10]
Any private operator who has customers within the Township shall
be required to obtain an annual permit from the Township. Applications
shall be made on forms supplied by the Township. The Township shall
charge an annual permit fee in such amounts as the Board of Commissioners
shall, from time to time, mandate by resolution duly adopted. Said
operator shall, on forms supplied by the Township and at such times
as shall be required by the Township supply information concerning
its customers and volume of recyclable items collected.
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 11]
1.Â
It shall, after the date of the adoption hereof, be unlawful for
any person to interfere with the Township's recycling program
in any matter whatsoever, including, but not being limited to:
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 12]
On or before February 15 of each year, the Township Manager
shall submit a report to the County of Allegheny which shall describe
the weight or volume of materials that were recycled by the Township
recycling program in the preceding year.
[Ord. 1710, 9/10/1990, § 13; as amended by Ord.
2288, 4/12/2010]
Any person, other than a Township official exercising his official
duties, who violates any provisions of this Part, any resolution enacted
hereunder on the terms or conditions of any contract awarded in the
implementation of this Part, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced
to pay a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 plus costs
and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment
not to exceed 30 days. Each day that a violation of this Part continues
shall constitute a separate offense.