[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Radnor 2-25-1974 by Ord. No. 1564 as Ch. 38 of the 1974
Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Citizen Council on Environmental Affairs — See Ch. 34.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Air Pollution Control Ordinance."
Whereas pollution of the air is detrimental
to the health, comfort, living conditions, welfare and safety of the
citizens of the Township of Radnor, it is hereby declared to be the
policy of the Township of Radnor to safeguard the citizens of the
Township from air pollution.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
Any source from or by reason of which there is emitted into
the outdoor atmosphere smoke, gases or odors, regardless of who the
person may be who owns or operates the building, premises or other
property in or on which such source is located or the facility, equipment
or other property by which the emission is caused or from which the
emission comes.
The presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one or more contaminants
or combinations thereof in such quantities and of such duration that
they are or may tend to be injurious to human, plant or animal life
or property or that interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life
or property or the conduct of business.
Any duct, passage, stack, chimney or conduit permitting air
contaminants to be emitted into the open air.
Any furnace or other device, excluding incinerators, in which
fuel is burned for the production of steam, hot water or hot air and
from which products of combustion are the sole stack effluent.
All putrescible animal and vegetable matter, including but
not limited to offal, dead animals and any liquid substance derived
therefrom, resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption
of food.
Any device specifically designed for the destruction by burning
of refuse or other combustible waste material.
That property of a substance which affects the sense of smell.
Any unenclosed fire wherein products of combustion are emitted
to the open air and are not directed thereto through a flue.
Any individual, partnership, association, syndicate, company,
firm, trust, corporation or other entity recognized by law as the
subject of rights and duties, including any governmental agency.
Garbage, rubbish and trade waste.
The Ringelmann scale for grading the density of smoke as
defined in Information Circular No. 7718 of the United States Bureau
of Mines.
Solids not considered to be highly flammable or explosive,
including but not limited to rags, old clothes, leather, rubber, carpets,
wood, excelsior, paper, ashes, tree branches, tree leaves, yard trimmings,
furniture, tin cans, glass, crockery, masonry and other similar materials.
Salvaging or reclaiming of any product or material, including
but not limited to metals, chemicals, shipping containers or drums.
Particulate matter produced by incomplete combustion of organic
substances, including but not limited to fly ash, cinders, tarry matter,
soot or carbon, and gaseous combustion products or unburned gases
accompanying or free of the aforementioned particulate matter.
All solid or liquid 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 materials.
A.
The Fire Marshal and such other persons as may be
designated by the Director of the Community Development Department
shall serve as Air Pollution Control Officers.
[Amended 6-29-1977 by Ord. No. 77-18]
B.
Air Pollution Control Officers shall have the powers
and duties to:
(1)
Enforce the provisions of this chapter.
(2)
Receive and initiate complaints of violations of this
chapter.
(3)
Enter and inspect any building, property, premises
or place pursuant to lawful process for the purpose of investigating
an actual or suspected source of air pollution or for the purpose
of ascertaining the compliance or noncompliance with any provision
of this chapter.
(4)
Render assistance and technical advice as needed to
any persons engaged in operations which may cause air pollution.
A.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit smoke
to be emitted into the outdoor atmosphere from any fuel-burning equipment
or incinerator, the shade or appearance of which is darker than shade
No. 1 on the Ringelmann Smoke Chart or of such opacity as to obscure
an observer's view to a degree greater than does smoke designated
as No. 1 on the Ringlemann Smoke Chart, except that smoke emitted
during the cleaning of a firebox or the building of a new fire may
not exceed No. 2 on the Ringelmann Smoke Chart for a period or periods
aggregating not more than six minutes in any 60 consecutive minutes.
B.
No person shall be permitted to install an incinerator
after the effective date of this chapter. Effective January 1, 1992,
the use and operation of all incinerators shall be discontinued, excepting
for those located within nonresidential zoning districts and used
for the express purpose of research and development, and such devices
shall be sealed or dismantled as directed by the Director of Community
Development.
[Amended 10-28-1974 by Ord. No. 1587; 10-28-1991 by Ord. No.
91-42]
C.
No person shall conduct a salvage operation or destroy
refuse by open burning, and it shall be prima facie evidence that
the person who owns or controls property on which open burning occurs
has caused or permitted said open burning. This restriction shall
not apply where the open burning operations result from:
(1)
A fire set by or under the supervision of a public
officer to prevent or abate a hazard.
(2)
A fire set for the purpose of instructing persons
in fire fighting.
(3)
The cooking of food.
D.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the
emission of any noxious or offensive odor from an air contamination
source.
E.
No person shall in any manner hinder, delay, obstruct,
resist, prevent or in any way interfere with an Air Pollution Control
Officer in the performance of his duty hereunder, or refuse such Officer,
after proper identification, entrance at reasonable hours to any premises,
provided that such Officer has complied with all procedural requirements
of law to establish right of entry.
A.
Prosecutions under this chapter may be instituted
by any Air Pollution Control Officer and shall be prosecuted in the
name of the Township of Radnor. Any person violating any of the provisions
of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof by any District Justice,
be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000, together with
the costs of prosecution, and, in default of payment of such fine
and costs, to imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding
30 days. Each day that a violation exists shall constitute a separate
offense.
[Amended 11-28-1988 by Ord. No. 88-32; 7-20-1992 by Ord. No. 92-13]
B.
An Air Pollution Control Officer may institute an
action in equity for an injunction to restrain continuous violations
of this chapter in the event that the Air Pollution Control Officer
has issued an abatement notice which is being violated and which is
not then the subject of judicial review.