Township of Springfield, PA Chapter 118 Solid Waste Management

[HISTORY: Adopted by Board of Commissioners of the Township of Springfield 7-14-1987 by Ord. No. 1162.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]

[1] Editor's Note: This ordinance also superseded former Ch. 118, Solid Waste Management, adopted 1-14-1986 by Ord. No. 1129.

§ 118-1 Definitions.

A. The following terms shall have the following meanings in this ordinance:

COLLECTOR

Any person collecting or transporting municipal solid waste for owners or occupants of property in the municipality, including the municipality itself if it undertakes the collection of municipal solid waste directly, and any business or institution within the municipality which generates municipal solid waste and uses its own employees and equipment for the collection and transport of the waste.

CONTRACTOR

One  or more contractors with whom the county or the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority (hereinafter referred to as "Authority") contracts for construction and operation of the proposed resource recovery plant or plants or other solid waste facilities.

MUNICIPALITY

The Township of Springfield.

MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE

Any  garbage, refuse, industrial lunchroom or office waste and other material, including solid or semisolid material generated in residential, municipal, commercial or institutional establishments and from community activities, and other solid waste which is within the definition of "municipal solid waste" as set forth in the Act[1] and which the county, Authority or contractor, by its ordinance or regulations, is willing to accept at the plant, but excluding the following:

(1) Any liquid waste or sludge.

(2) All wastes which are defined by existing or future federal or state law or regulations as hazardous waste or industrial residual waste.

(3) Any waste which may be marketable and which is intentionally segregated for purposes of recycling.

(4) Materials specifically excluded under applicable county ordinances.

PERSON

Any individual, partnership, association, corporation or governmental entity, with the exception of the county, Authority or designated contractor.

PLANT

The energy and/or material recovery facility or facilities, transfer station or solid waste plants owned by the county or Authority or the contractor, including all associated property and equipment.

SOLID WASTE FACILITY

Any site owned and operated by the county, the Authority or its designated contractor for the purpose of transfer, processing or disposal of municipal solid waste, including landfills, resource recovery plants and transfer stations.

[1] Editor's Note: The "Act" refers to 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq.

B. Certain terms used herein are also defined in the recitals hereto.³

	3Editor's Note: The recital to Ord. No. 1162 reads as follows:
	"WHEREAS, the MUNICIPALITY (as hereinafter defined) finds it necessary to regulate the collection of Municipal Solid Waste (as hereinafter defined) generated within its boundaries in order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of its taxpayers and residents; and
	WHEREAS, Act No. 180 of July 12, 1972, 53 P.S. §§ 481 et seq., authorizes a municipality to enter into joint cooperation agreements with other municipalities in the exercise or in the performance of their respective governmental functions, powers, or responsibilities; and
	WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act of 1980, as amended, 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq. (hereinafter referred to as the "Act"), authorizes a municipality to require by ordinance that all municipal wastes generated within its jurisdiction shall be disposed of at a designated facility: and
	WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of the Act, the Delaware County Council has caused to be prepared the Delaware County Solid Waste Management Plan of 1985, which was reviewed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, revised, and is dated December, 1986 (the "County Plan"), which recommends that for the foreseeable future the solid waste from this Municipality be disposed of by means of regional facilities authorized by the County, the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority, and/or the Authority's contractor (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "County"); and
	WHEREAS THE COUNTY PLAN, in February 1987, received preliminary approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, with final DER approval conditional upon the County obtaining such municipal adoptions of the County Plan as may be necessary for its implementation.
	WHEREAS, the County Plan concludes that a County-wide solid waste disposal system should include a resources recovery plant or plants located within the County, because it would be the most environmentally sound and cost-effective method of disposing of Municipal Solid Waste within the County; and
	WHEREAS, in order to obtain the environmental, economic, and public benefits from the plant or plants as discussed in the County Plan, it is necessary that commitments be obtained from the local municipalities within the County as to the use of the plant or plants for the disposal of Municipal Solid Waste from such municipalities; and
	WHEREAS, the Township of Springfield has full authority under the applicable laws to provide for the management of Municipal Solid Waste within its boundaries as hereinafter provided; and
	WHEREAS, the form of this Ordinance has been approved by the County, and it has been, or will be, included in the County's Solid Waste Management Plan, which has been or will be filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (DER); and
	WHEREAS, the County agrees to assist in the implementation of the County Plan, but only after this Ordinance has been enacted by a sufficient number of municipalities in the County to make the construction of such plant or plants as proposed in the County Plan feasible; and
	WHEREAS, under the Act, any municipality with a population density in excess of 300 persons per square mile, or has a solid waste disposal problem, must develop a solid waste management plan to be approved by DER but may, at its option and with the County's agreement, delegate this duty to the County, and
	WHEREAS, this Municipality has delegated this aforesaid duty to the County, and the County has accepted this responsibility."

§ 118-2 Prohibited acts.

It is hereby declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance for any person to accumulate upon any property in this municipality, any municipal solid waste or to dispose of it except in accordance with this ordinance and other applicable laws, ordinances or regulations.

§ 118-3 Operation of facilities.

The municipality has been advised by the county that the solid waste plan proposes to provide for a plant or plants which will be operated efficiently and economically by the contractor and/or by the county and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations, and also that the contractor and/or the county will impose reasonable charges, which will be uniform along all classes of users of the plant or plants.

§ 118-4 Collectors to be licensed.

Except as it pertains to municipal solid waste collected directly by this municipality, all collectors of municipal solid waste generated within the municipality shall be licensed by the municipality and shall be responsible for collecting municipal solid waste from properties in the municipality pursuant to a contract between them and the municipality and/or contracts between them and the owners or occupants of properties.

§ 118-5 Delivery and disposal of waste at facility.

All collectors shall deliver and dispose of all municipal solid waste collected within the municipality at the solid waste facility designated by the county subject to such reasonable regulations for the operation thereof as may be established by the county and/or contractor. Delivery and disposal at any other place shall be a violation of this ordinance and cause for revocation of the collector's license, except in special circumstances approved in advance by the municipality and the county and/or contractor. All collectors shall comply in their operation with all applicable laws, ordinances and regulations pertaining to the collection and transportation of municipal solid waste.

§ 118-6 Private dumps, transfer stations and landfills prohibited.

No person shall use or permit to be used any property owned or occupied by him within the municipality as a public or private dump, transfer station or landfill for municipal solid waste, whether generated within the municipality or elsewhere, without the express written approval of the municipality.

§ 118-7 Violations and penalties.

Any person who shall violate any provision of this ordinance shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding before a District Justice, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $300 and, in default of payment thereof, shall be committed to the county jail for a period not exceeding 30 days; and each day's continuance of a violation of this ordinance, as well as each truckload of illegally delivered trash, shall constitute a separate offense.

§ 118-8 Abatement of nuisance.

In addition to the remedies provided in § 118-7 herein, any continued violation of this ordinance or other applicable law which shall constitute a nuisance in fact, or which, in the opinion of the governing body of this municipality, shall constitute a nuisance, may be abated by proceeding against the violator in a court of equity for relief.

§ 118-9 Additional rules and regulations.

The collection of municipal solid waste in the municipality and the disposal thereof shall be subject to such further reasonable rules and regulations as may from time to time be promulgated by the governing body of the municipality, including, but without limitation, regulations as to the form of license application, the amount of fee to be charged for said licenses and the terms of the licenses and license issuance procedures; provided, however, that no such rules and regulations shall be contrary to the provisions of this ordinance, the county solid waste plan or applicable law.

§ 118-10 Amendments.

The municipality reserves the right to amend this ordinance or repeal it at any time; provided, however, that the requirement for use of the designated solid waste facility for disposal of municipal solid waste from the municipality shall not be amended or repealed without the prior express written approval of the county during the term of the contract between the county (or Authority) and contractor providing for the construction and operation of the plant, which contract shall have a term of 25 years. For the purposes of securing the contractor's financing, such requirement shall be deemed to be a contract between the county, the contractor and the municipality, which the municipality (subject to the terms of the joint cooperation agreement set forth below) agrees to enforce so that the municipal solid waste from the municipality will be available to provide a source of energy for the plant. If the municipality is not now a collector but in the future it becomes a collector, it agrees to deliver all municipal solid waste so collected to the plant.

§ 118-11 Joint cooperation agreement.

A. The municipality agrees to deliver or cause to be delivered during the term of this agreement all municipal solid waste, as defined herein, generated within the municipality for disposal at a facility designated by the county.

B. The county agrees to accept for disposal all such municipal solid waste described in Subsection A above upon completion and commencement of operation of the plant in accordance with a contract, containing terms satisfactory to the county, with the contractor providing for construction and operation of the plant.

C. The term of this agreement shall be for a period of 25 years, and said term shall commence on January 1, 2017. The municipality, at its option, may terminate this agreement with 30 days' written notice to the county in the event that the municipality will incur substantial costs over and above the costs generally accepted by the other municipalities in delivering municipal solid waste to the county during the term of this agreement, provided that the municipality has first obtained final approval from the Department of Environmental Resources for their own plan under the Act, or an approval from the Department for a modification that brings the municipality under another plan that has already obtained final approval. It is understood, however, that (upon any such termination of this agreement by the municipality) the county, the authority and/or the county's contractor shall be relieved of any responsibility to accept and dispose of municipal solid waste generated within the municipality. It is further understood that any such termination of this agreement by the municipality shall constitute a repeal, whether express or implied, of § 118-2 of this ordinance.

D. The county shall hold harmless and defend the municipality from any suit, claim or action challenging the legality of this ordinance against the municipality. In the event that any such suit, claim or action is brought against the municipality, the municipality shall authorize the county, through its designated legal counsel, to defend against the same, and the municipality shall cooperate with the county in said defense and shall give the County Solicitor notice of any such suit, claim or action within five days of the municipality's receiving notice thereof.

§ 118-12 Adoption of plan.

A. The Department of Environmental Resources has recommended that the requirements of the Solid Waste Management Act can best be accomplished on a county-wide basis.

B. The municipality, by formal Resolution No. 5-84, dated April 12, 1984, authorized the county to prepare the solid waste management plan on the municipality's behalf.

C. The county, through the staff of its Public Works Department, its Planning Commission and Charles M. Harris and Associates, Inc., consulting engineers, prepared a ten-year plan for solid waste management.

D. The appropriate municipal officials of this municipality have reviewed the findings and recommendations of the plan as it affects this municipality, have found the plan acceptable and have recommended that the plan be adopted.

E. The municipality, accordingly, hereby accepts and adopts the solid waste management study prepared by the county as the ten-year plan for solid waste management required by the Act.

F. The county is hereby authorized to submit the plan to DER for the final approval on behalf of the municipality.

§ 118-13 Severability.

If any part of this ordinance is for any reason found to be illegal or invalid, such illegality or invalidation shall not affect any of the remaining parts of this ordinance, which shall continue to be fully operative as if the illegal or invalid part had not been enacted.

§ 118-14 Repealer.

Springfield Township Ordinance No. 1129, enacted January 14, 1986, relating to municipal solid waste, is hereby repealed. All provisions of any other ordinance which are inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance are hereby repealed.

§ 118-15 When effective.

This ordinance shall become effective immediately. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this municipality shall have neither the right nor the obligation to dispose of its municipal solid waste at the plant which is contemplated under this ordinance until said plant is constructed and fully operational.