[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Washington 4-3-1978 by Ord.
No. 78-7 (Ch. 63 of the 1985 Code). Amendments noted
where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and cited as the "Air Pollution
Control Code of the Township of Washington."
It is hereby declared that air pollution is a menace to the
health, welfare and comfort of the residents of the Township of Washington
and a cause of substantial damage to property. For the purpose of
preventing and reducing atmospheric pollution, it is hereby declared
to be the policy of the Township of Washington to minimize air pollution
as herein defined and to establish standards governing the installation,
maintenance and operation of equipment and appurtenances relating
to combustion, which is a source or potential source of air pollution.
The following terms, wherever used herein or referred to in
this chapter, shall have the respective meanings assigned to them,
unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
Solid particles, liquid particles, vapors or gases which
are discharged into the outdoor atmosphere.
The presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one or more air
contaminants in such quantities and duration as are or tend to be
injurious to human health or welfare, animal or plant life or property
or would unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life or property.
Equipment in which heat from the combustion of fuel is transferred
to a substance being heated so that the latter is contacted by the
products of combustion and may contribute to the total effluent.
The person or persons who are authorized by this chapter
to exercise the powers prescribed by this chapter.
Those chemicals used as insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides,
herbicides, nematocides or defoliants.
Solid, liquid or gaseous materials used to produce useful
heat by burning.
Waste animal or vegetable matter from houses, kitchens, restaurants,
hotels, produce markets or any other source, or food of any kind to
be thrown away.
Any device, apparatus, equipment or structure used for destroying,
reducing or salvaging by fire any material or substance, including
but not limited to refuse, rubbish, garbage, trade waste, debris or
scrap, or a facility for cremating human or animal remains.
Equipment in which heat from the combustion of fuel is transferred
by conduction through a heat-conducting material to a substance being
heated so that the latter is not contacted by and adds nothing to
the products of combustion.
Any maximum linear perpendicular distance from an inside
wall of a stack or chimney to the inside of an opposite wall, such
as the diameter of a circular cross section or the length or width
of a rectangular cross section.
Particles which have volume but are not of rigid shape and
which, upon collection, tend to coalesce and create uniform homogeneous
films upon the surface of the collecting media.
Any action, operation or treatment embracing chemical, industrial,
manufacturing or processing factors, methods or forms, including but
not limited to furnaces, kettles, ovens, converters, cupolas, kilns,
crucibles, stills, dryers, roasters, crushers, grinders, mixers, reactors,
regenerators, separators, filters, reboilers, columns, classifiers,
screens, quenchers, cookers, digesters, towers, washers, scrubbers,
mills, condensers or absorbers.
Includes all vehicles propelled otherwise than by muscular
power, excepting such vehicles as run only upon rails or tracks.
The property of a substance which affects the sense of smell.
The property of a substance which renders it partially or
wholly obstructive to the transmission of visible light, expressed
as the percentage to which the light is obstructed.
Any fire wherein the products of combustion are emitted into
the open air and are not directed thereto through a stack or chimney
of an incinerator.
Any person who has care, custody or control of a building
or premises or a portion thereof, whether with or without knowledge
of the owner thereof.
Air space outside of buildings, stacks or exterior ducts.
Any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others,
shall have legal or equitable title to any premises, with or without
accompanying actual possession thereof, or shall have charge, care
or control of any dwelling or dwelling unit, as owner or agent of
the owner, or as fiduciary, including but not limited to executrix,
administrator, administratrix, trustee, receiver or guardian of the
estate or as a mortgagee in possession regardless of how such possession
was obtained. Any person who is a lessee subletting or reassigning
any part or all of any dwelling or dwelling unit shall be deemed to
be a co-owner with the lessor and shall have joint responsibility
over the portion of the premises sublet or assigned by said lessee.
Any material, except uncombined water, which exists in finely
divided form as liquid particles or solid particles at standard conditions.
Includes corporations, companies associations, societies,
firms, partnerships and joint-stock companies, as well as individuals,
and also includes all political subdivisions of this state or any
agencies or instrumentalities thereof.
Vegetation, including but not limited to trees, tree branches,
leaves, yard trimmings, shrubbery, grass, weeds and crops.
Rubbish, garbage, trade waste and plant life.
Ringelmann's Scale for Grading the Density of Smoke,
as published by the United States Bureau of Mines, or any chart, recorder,
indicator or device which is approved by the New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection as the equivalent of said Ringelmann's
Scale for the measurement of smoke density.
Waste solids not considered to be highly flammable or explosive,
including but not limited to rags, old clothes, leather, rubber, carpets,
wood, excelsior, papers, ashes, furniture, tin cans, glass, crockery,
masonry and other similar materials.
Any operation or activity from which is salvaged or reclaimed
any product or material, including but not limited to metals, chemicals
or shipping containers.
Small gasborne or airborne particles, exclusive of water
vapor, arising from a process of combustion in sufficient number to
be observable.
Particles of rigid shape and definite volume.
Any manufacturing process or any identifiable part thereof
emitting an air contaminant into the outdoor atmosphere through one
or more stacks or chimneys.
A flue, conduit or opening designed and constructed for the
purpose of emitting air contaminants into the outdoor air.
70º F. and one atmosphere pressure (14.7 pounds per
square inch absolute or 760 millimeters Hg).
All solid or liquid waste material or rubbish resulting from
construction, building operations or the prosecution of any business,
trade or industry, including but not limited to plastic products,
cartons, paint, grease, oil and other petroleum products, chemicals,
cinders and other forms of solid or liquid waste material.
Smoke which obscures light to a degree readily discernible
by visual observation.
No person or owner of property, or person or persons having
possession or control thereof, shall cause, suffer, allow or permit
to be emitted into the open air substances in such quantities as shall
result in air pollution. The provisions of this section shall not
apply to the use of economic poisons.
A.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit a salvage operation
by open burning.
B.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the disposal of rubbish,
garbage or trade waste, buildings or structures by open burning.
D.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
(1)
Variances approved and issued by the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection in accordance with Subchapter 2.5 of the New Jersey Administrative
Code.
(2)
Open burning of refuse for training or research exercises when conducted
at a permanent facility or training center designed to be used solely
for such purposes on a continuing basis.
A.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit visible smoke to be
emitted into the outdoor air from combustion of fuel in any stationary
indirect heat exchanger having a rated hourly capacity of less than
200,000,000 Btu's gross heat input or discharging through a stack
or chimney having an internal cross-sectional dimension of less than
60 inches.
B.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit smoke the shade or
appearance of which is darker than No. 1 on the Ringelmann Smoke Chart
or greater than twenty-percent opacity, exclusive of water vapor,
to be emitted into the outdoor air from the combustion of fuel in
any stationary indirect heat exchanger having a rated hourly capacity
of 200,000,000 Btu's or greater gross heat input or discharging
through a stack or chimney having an internal cross-sectional dimension
of 60 inches or greater.
D.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to direct heat exchangers
or manufacturing processes or to any motor vehicle while operating
on the public highways.
E.
Any person responsible for the construction, installation, alteration
or use of an indirect heat exchanger shall, when requested by the
Director, provide the facilities and necessary equipment for determining
the density or opacity of smoke being discharged into the open air.
A.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit particles to be emitted
from any stack or chimney into the outdoor air the shade or appearance
of which is greater than twenty-percent opacity, exclusive of water
vapor.
B.
The provisions of this section shall not apply:
(1)
To particles the shade or appearance of which is greater than 20%
opacity, exclusive of water vapor, for a period of not longer than
three minutes in any consecutive thirty-minute period.
(2)
To source operations issued a variance by the New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection in accordance with Subchapter 6.5 of the
New Jersey Administrative Code.
(3)
To indirect heat exchangers.
(4)
To incinerators.
(5)
For a period of five years from the date of issuance of a valid permanent
certificate to operate to a source operation equipped with control
apparatus for which a valid permit to construct or the permanent certificate
to operate was issued by the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection during the period from June 15, 1967, to March 27, 1972.
A.
Except as herein provided, persons burning solid or liquid fuel whose
products of combustion are discharged into the open air from a stack
or chimney shall submit to the Director information for each such
stack or chimney relating to place, type of fuel burned, heat content
in fuel burned, quantity of fuel burned per hour and/or year, description
of combustion equipment, usual period of operation, height and size
of outlet, description of air pollution control equipment and such
other and pertinent information as may be requested on forms provided
for that purpose by the Director. The application forms shall also
require submission of name, address and telephone number of the person
or persons responsible for day-to-day operation and, also, of the
person or persons responsible for maintenance of any such equipment.
Any change in the name, address or telephone number of such person
or persons shall be reported within 10 days of the occurrence of such
change to the Director.
B.
Such information shall be submitted to the Director within 90 days
after either new installations are placed into service or existing
installations are altered. Nothing herein shall be construed as relieving
any person from the requirements of the Building Code of the Township
of Washington.[1] Additional reports concerning these items may be requested
by the Director.
C.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to equipment designed
or used for a heat input rate of not more than 1,000,000 British thermal
units (Btu's) per hour unless the equipment is designed for or
actually using No. 4, No. 5 or No. 6 fuel oil or coal.
A.
No person shall operate or permit the operation of an incinerator in the Township of Washington without a permit issued by the Director in accordance with this chapter. The Director shall recommend issuance of a permit for the operation of an incinerator after examining the application and inspecting the facility and being satisfied that it may be operated in accordance with this chapter. Said permit may be conditioned on improvements being made within a prescribed time or on certain operating restrictions, if necessary, to comply with this chapter. All permits shall be issued by the Director and shall expire on December 31 following their issuance or at such time prior thereto as any conditions or restrictions shall not be complied with. Each incinerator shall require a permit, for which the annual fee, as set forth in Chapter 212, Fees, shall be payable to the Township of Washington.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
B.
No person shall operate or permit the operation of an incinerator
in the Township of Washington before 9:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m.,
and all operations shall be completely terminated by 5:00 p.m., including
complete extinction of the fire and removal of materials from the
firebox to a noncombustible container and in a safe manner; provided,
however, that the Director may, by special permit, because of exceptional
circumstances, permit different hours of operation under such conditions
as he shall deem necessary for the health, safety and welfare of the
public or of persons in the vicinity.
C.
Where the operation of an incinerator constitutes an immediate and
substantial menace to public health and safety or is a substantial
source of air pollution causing irritation and discomfort to persons
in the vicinity and the owner or operator fails, upon written or oral
notice, to take immediate corrective measures, the Director may take
all necessary measures to abate the condition, including but not limited
to ordering the cessation of use of the equipment and sealing the
same, pending a hearing in the Municipal Court.
D.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit smoke from any incinerator
the shade or appearance of which is darker than No. 1 on the Ringelmann
Smoke Chart to be emitted into the open air, or emissions of such
opacity within a stack or chimney or, exclusive of water vapor, of
such opacity leaving a stack or chimney, to a degree greater than
the emission designated as No. 1 on the Ringelmann Smoke Chart.
E.
The provisions of Subsection D shall not apply to smoke emitted during the building of a new fire, the shade or appearance of which is not greater than No. 2 on the Ringelmann Smoke Chart, for a period of three consecutive minutes, or emissions of such opacity within a stack or chimney or, exclusive of water vapor, of such opacity leaving a stack or chimney, to a degree greater than the emission designated as No. 2 on the Ringelmann Smoke Chart, for a period no greater than three consecutive minutes.
F.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the emission of particles
of unburned waste or ash from any incinerator which are individually
large enough to be visible while suspended in the atmosphere.
G.
No person shall construct, install, use or cause to be used any incinerator
which will result in odors being detectable by sense of smell in any
area of human use or occupancy.
A.
The Health Officer of the Township of Washington shall, in addition
to his other duties, enforce and administer the provisions of this
chapter, and, in exercising his powers and duties hereunder, shall
be known as the "Director of Air Pollution Control." The Director
may appoint or designate other employees or officers of the Township
of Washington to perform duties necessary for the enforcement of this
chapter.
A.
Emergency inspections may be authorized without warrant if the Director
has reason to believe that a condition exists which poses an immediate
threat to life, health or safety. Such procedure shall only take place
where the time taken to apply for and secure the issuance of a warrant
would render ineffective the immediate action necessary to abate the
condition.
B.
Emergency inspections may also be authorized by the Governor in times
of air pollution emergencies in accordance with N.J.S.A. 26:2C-32.
C.
Where the Director or his agent is refused entry or access or is
otherwise impeded or prevented by the owner, occupant or operator
from conducting an inspection of the premises, such person shall be
in violation of this chapter and subject to the penalties hereunder.
D.
Search warrant or access warrant.
(1)
The Director may, upon affidavit, apply to the Judge of the Township
of Washington for a search warrant, setting forth factually the actual
conditions and circumstances that provide a reasonable basis for believing
that a violation of the chapter may exist on the premises, including
one or more of the following:
(a)
That the premises require inspection according to the cycle
established by the Township for periodic inspections of premises of
the type involved.
(b)
That observation of external conditions (smoke, ash, soot, odors)
of the premises and its public areas has resulted in the belief that
violations of this chapter exist.
(c)
Circumstances such as age and design of fuel-burning equipment
and/or system, type of incinerator, particular use of premises or
other factors which render systematic inspections of such building
necessary in the interest of public health and safety.
(2)
If the Judge of the Township of Washington is satisfied as to the
matter set forth in the said affidavit, he shall authorize the issuance
of a search warrant permitting access to and inspection of that part
of the premises on which the nuisance or violation may exist.
E.
All buildings and premises subject to this chapter are subject to
inspection from time to time by the Director of Air Pollution Control
or his duly authorized representatives. All rooms and areas in the
building shall be available and accessible for such inspection, which
shall be made during usual business hours if the premises are used
for nonresidential purposes; provided, however, that inspections may
be made at other times if:
(1)
The premises are not available during the foregoing hours for inspection;
(2)
There is reason to believe that violations are occurring on the premises
which can be determined and proved by inspection only during other
than the prescribed hours; or
(3)
There is reason to believe that a violation exists of a character
which is an immediate threat to health or safety requiring inspection
and abatement without delay.
A.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter or who shall fail to comply therewith or with any of the requirements thereof shall be punishable as provided in § 1-1 of Chapter 1, General Provisions. Each day that such violation shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.
[Amended 6-3-1985 by Ord.
No. 85-5]
B.
The violation of any section or subsection of this chapter shall
constitute a separate and distinct offense independent of the violation
of any other section or subsection or of any order issued pursuant
to this chapter.
A.
This chapter is to be liberally construed to effectuate the purpose
herein described. Nothing herein is to be construed as repealing or
abridging the emergency powers of any agency of government except
to the extent expressly set forth herein.
B.
This chapter is promulgated and adopted in accordance with Section
26:2C-8 of P.L. 1954, c. 212 (N.J.S.A. 26:2C-1 to 2C-23), amended
by P.L. 1962, c. 215; P.L. 1967, c. 105; and P.L. 1967, c. 106; and
nothing contained herein or any action taken hereunder is to be interpreted
as being in conflict with the New Jersey Air Pollution Control Act
and the New Jersey Administrative Code.