[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Tonawanda 7-15-1974
as Chapter 38 of the 1974 Code of the Town of Tonawanda. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Smoke and Air Pollution Ordinance."
The following words, when used in this chapter, shall have the following
meanings:
A person qualified by education and/or experience in combustion engineering
and who, through his vocation, has kept abreast of its changing practices.
Smoke of a density equal to or in excess of No. 3 of the Ringelmann
Smoke Chart.
Gasborne and airborne particles as described and/or defined in § 173-4D of this chapter.
Any device for separating dust from the media in which it is carried.
Combustible materials, solid, liquid or gaseous, used primarily either
to kindle or sustain fire or produce heat, including refuse to be consumed
in refuse-burning equipment.
Any furnace, incinerator, refuse-burning equipment, boiler, apparatus,
device, mechanism, stack or structure used in the process of burning fuel
or combustible material except a railroad locomotive or vehicle as herein
defined.
Fumes, gases, noxious acids or vapors which are of such character
and volume as to be detrimental to health and property.
An engine in which combustion of a gas, gaseous liquid or pulverized
solid fuel takes place.
Any fire wherein the products of combustion are emitted into the
open air and are not directed thereto through a stack or chimney.
Any individual, partnership, association, syndicate, company, firm,
trust, corporation, government corporation, department, bureau, agency or
any other entity recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties.
The Ringelmann Chart with instructions for use, as published by the
United States Bureau of Mines, 1945.
All gaseous products of combustion, together with carbon, soot, fly
ash and all other particulate solids in combustion gases.
Agglomerated particles consisting essentially of carbonaceous material.
A flue, conduit or opening arranged for emitting gases into the open
air, and includes an open fire, structure or opening of any kind whatsoever
capable of emitting smoke.
The Town of Tonawanda, Erie County, New York, exclusive of the Village
of Kenmore.
A mechanism, other than a steam locomotive, either self-propelled
or propelled by other means such as a roller, derrick, crane, trencher, portable
hoisting engine, steamboat, tug or other apparatus, which is not ordinarily
permanently installed in one location but is used at various places over a
wide area.
A.
The production or emission of dense smoke within the
Town of Tonawanda is prohibited.
B.
The following exceptions to the provisions of this section
shall be permitted:
(1)
In the event of upset fire conditions or breakdowns of
equipment which are unavoidable and beyond the ordinary control of the person
operating a fuel- or refuse-burning device, dense smoke of Ringelmann Smoke
Chart No. 3 shall be permitted for one period of not more than six minutes
during any one hour.
(2)
When a firebox is being cleaned out or a new fire being
built therein, dense smoke shall be permitted for one period of not more than
10 minutes in any one calendar day or for two periods of not more than six
minutes in any one calendar day.
(3)
Locomotives.
(a)
It shall be unlawful for a railroad locomotive to emit smoke of a density greater than No. 2 of the Ringelmann Chart for more than one minute at any one time or for more than 10 such one-minute periods in any consecutive period of 60 minutes. This provision shall apply to any locomotive in service or being prepared for service in transfer yards or engaged in switching operations, except as set forth in Subsection B(3)(b) and (c) herein.
(b)
In the event of upset fire conditions or breakdowns of
equipment which are unavoidable and beyond the ordinary control of the person
operating the locomotive, smoke of a density greater than No. 2 of the Ringelmann
Chart shall be permitted for one period of not more than five minutes during
any one hour.
(c)
When a firebox is being cleaned out or a new fire being
built therein, smoke of a density greater than No. 2 of the Ringelmann Chart
shall be permitted for one period of not more than 10 minutes in any one calendar
day or for two periods of not more than six minutes in any one calendar day.
A.
The emission from any stack or premises within the town
into the open air of such quantities of dust, soot, cinders, fly ash, noxious
acids, vapors, fumes or gases so as to cause injury or detriment to persons
or to the public or so as to endanger the reasonable comfort, health or safety
of any person or the public or in such manner as to cause unreasonable injury
or to cause damage to business or property is prohibited and also is hereby
declared to be a nuisance and may be abated in the manner provided by law.
B.
Plans and specifications for any and all installations and/or changes on both new and existing systems which involve or affect the discharge of fumes into the atmosphere, except that which would result from the use of fuel-burning equipment as defined under § 173-2, must be filed with the Smoke and Air Pollution Inspector and shall be accompanied by a statement made by a practicing chemical engineer, an independent consulting laboratory or a doctor of chemistry or other designated authority acceptable to the Smoke and Air Pollution Advisory Board describing the process of fume removal and discharge and certifying that the process of cleaning and removal of fumes described will reduce to a minimum fumes to be discharged into the air and that such process of cleaning can be accomplished by means of equipment available for purchase on an industrial scale.
C.
Dispersion of effluent toxic gases by increasing the
volume of air handled is not permissible.
D.
The quantity of dust and/or fly ash emission shall be
limited to 0.75 grains per cubic foot of flue gas at stack temperature, of
which amount not more than 0.2 grain per cubic foot shall be of such a size
as to be retained on a three-hundred-mesh United States standard sieve. These
conditions are to be conformed to when the percentage of excess air in the
stack does not exceed 50% at full load. The foregoing requirements shall be
measured in accordance with the methods outlined in the Test Code for Dust-Separating
Apparatus of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
A.
There is hereby established the office of Smoke Inspector,
who shall serve at the pleasure of the Town Board at a compensation to be
determined by the Town Board from time to time.
B.
Qualifications. The Smoke Inspector shall be qualified
in theory and practice of design, construction and operation of fuel-burning
apparatus.
C.
The Smoke Inspector shall, in cooperation with the Advisory
Board, have charge of the enforcement of this chapter and of the rules and
regulations promulgated hereunder. His duties shall include but shall not
be limited to the following:
(1)
The investigation of complaints, making of observations
of smoke conditions and taking the necessary and proper steps to abate the
nuisance therefrom and the enforcement of this chapter.
(2)
The issuance of permits, certificates and notices under
this chapter and the keeping and custody of applications, plans, permits,
certificates, violations, complaints and other records on file for department
purposes only.
(3)
The examination of the plans for all new buildings and
for the alteration of all existing buildings in order to assure that they
are in accordance with this chapter and with the rules and regulations established
by this chapter.
(4)
The examination of the application and plans for the
construction, installation or alteration of any fuel-burning equipment or
any equipment pertaining thereto and, if found to meet the requirements of
this chapter and of said rules and regulations, the issuance of an installation
permit.
(5)
The inspection of the installation of all equipment for
which a permit has been issued and, when found that the work is completed
in accordance with this chapter and with said rules and regulations, the issuance
of an operating permit.
(6)
The inspection annually of all the fuel-burning equipment
under the jurisdiction of this chapter and, when found to comply with its
provisions and said rules and regulations, the issuance of a certificate of
operation.
(7)
The publication and dissemination of information on methods
of smoke reduction.
(8)
The enlistment of the cooperation of civic, technical,
scientific and educational societies.
(9)
To make, prepare and promulgate rules and regulations
with the advice of counsel of the Advisory Board for the installation and
operation of fuel-burning equipment, subject to approval thereof by the Town
Board after a public hearing thereon.
(10)
Such other duties as are not hereinbefore enumerated
as the Town Board may assign to him.
D.
The Town Board may appoint such assistants and employees
as it may deem necessary to help, aid and assist the Smoke Inspector or to
work independently of the Smoke Inspector and may pay them such compensation
as the Town Board may determine from time to time.
A.
There is hereby established a Smoke Regulation Advisory
Board to consist of five members, who shall be appointed by the Town Board
as follows: two for terms of one year, two for terms of two years and one
for a term of three years. At the expiration of the several terms, appointment
of successors shall thereafter be made by the Town Board for terms of three
years. One of the members of said Board shall be a qualified combustion engineer.
The Town Board shall appoint the Chairman, who shall serve as such until January
1, 1949. The Town Board shall thereafter appoint a Chairman at the first meeting
of the Town Board in January of each year. The Smoke Advisory Board shall
elect a secretary from among its members. If a vacancy shall occur in said
Board other than by expiration of term, such vacancy shall be filled by the
Town Board by appointment for the unexpired term. The Town Board shall have
the power to remove any member for cause after a public hearing.
B.
The duties of said Advisory Board shall be to advise and counsel with the Smoke Inspector and to assist him in the promulgation of rules and regulations as provided in § 173-5 hereof.
C.
All meetings of said Board shall be held at the call
of the Chairman and at such other times as such Board may determine.
A.
No new fuel- or refuse-burning plant, equipment or device
shall be installed, erected or used, nor shall any existing fuel- or refuse-burning
plant, equipment or device be altered, added to or used, nor shall any stack
or furnace connected with such plant, equipment or device in installed, erected,
altered, added to or used, within the town, until plans and specifications
of the same shall have been filed in the office of the Smoke Inspector and
approved as being so designed that the same can be managed and operated to
conform to the provisions of this chapter and until a permit shall have been
issued for such installation, erection, reconstruction or addition; provided,
however, that such plans and specifications for heating plants only in residences
of less than five dwelling units or flats need not be so filed unless demanded
by the Smoke Inspector.
B.
The plans and specifications so filed shall show:
(1)
The type of installation.
(2)
The nature and extent of the work to be performed.
(3)
The extent of the space to be heated.
(4)
The kind of fuel or refuse to be used and the rate of
burning, including all provisions made for securing complete combustion of
the fuel or refuse and the manner in which it is to be burned, for the purpose
of preventing and eliminating dense smoke or other air pollution.
(a)
The Smoke Inspector shall specify the volatile content
of the solid fuel that may be consumed in any hand-fired equipment, provided
that a fuel shall not be specified whose volatile content is in excess of
the volatile content of the fuel now being used by any person hand-firing
when these rules go into effect. Also no solid fuel shall be burned, imported,
stored, sold or delivered for hand-firing that does not meet the standard
herein described.
(b)
A fuel shall not be used for hand-firing with a volatile
content in excess of 24% of an ash- and moisture-free basis. Any solid fuel
with a volatile content in excess of this shall be burned only with mechanical
fuel-burning equipment.
(5)
The location and dimensions of the premises, room, basement
or other portion of the building in which such plant, equipment or device
now is or may be located; and also the doors, windows, air shafts, fans and
other means of ventilation in such premises, room, basement or other portion
of such building, to be sufficient to prevent the temperature therein from
rising to a point higher than 120° F. and to be sufficient, also, to provide
that the atmosphere of any such room, basement or other portion of the building
may be changed at least every 10 minutes.
(6)
The location and dimensions of all stacks used in connection
with or as a part of said fuel- or refuse-burning plant.
C.
The Smoke Inspector may require such additional data
as he may deem necessary for the purpose of issuing a permit. No plans and
specifications shall be approved nor shall a permit be issued for the installation,
construction, erection or alteration of or addition to such fuel- or refuse-burning
plant, equipment or device unless adequate and approved provisions are shown
thereon for securing reasonably complete combustion of the fuel or refuse
to be used, for the purpose of preventing dense smoke or other air pollution.
D.
After a permit has been issued, no fuel- or refuse-burning
plant, equipment or device shall be operated or used with a type of fuel materially
different from that specified nor in a manner different from the plans and
specifications and the terms and conditions relating to its operation or use.
E.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed
so as to prohibit the making of repairs to any stack or fuel- or refuse-burning
equipment or device.
The Building Commissioner shall not issue a permit for the erection, construction, reconstruction or alteration of any building or structure which includes or requires a stack connected with a fuel- or refuse-burning plant, equipment or device unless a permit has been issued as provided in §§ 173-5 and 173-7 hereof. It shall be the duty of the Smoke Inspector, after such permit has been issued, to inspect the premises wherein said fuel- or refuse-burning plant, equipment or device is to be located to see that the execution of the work so authorized by said permit shall be done in conformity with the approved plans and specifications and the existing standards, rules and regulations applicable thereto.
It shall be unlawful for any person to use any new or reconstructed
fuel- or refuse-burning plant, equipment or device until he shall have first
procurred a certificate of operation. No original certificate of operation
shall be issued for such plant, equipment or device unless such plant, equipment
or device is so constructed that it can consistently be managed to do the
work required with the type of fuel and equipment to be used without emitting
from the stack dense smoke, dust, soot, cinders, fly ash or noxious acids,
fumes or gases.
A.
Every fuel- or refuse-burning plant, equipment or device
shall be subject to annual inspection, and it shall be unlawful for any person
to use or operate any fuel- or refuse-burning plant, equipment or device without
first obtaining therefor an annual certificate of operation.
B.
The first annual inspection shall commence one year from
the effective date of this chapter, and each annual certificate of operation
shall be effective for one year from the date thereof.
Upon due application and upon furnishing proof that plans and specifications
have been or are being prepared for the reconstruction or alteration of or
addition to any premises or fuel- or refuse-burning plant, equipment or device
to prevent or eliminate air pollution or the emission of dense smoke and that
the necessary steps have been taken to provide for compliance with the provisions
of this chapter, but that the proper equipment or device cannot be obtained
immediately, a certificate of extension may be granted for a period of not
more than six months, and such period may be extended further for not more
than three months at any one time. All extensions of time shall be reported
to the Town Board.
The issuance and delivery of a permit for the construction, reconstruction
or alteration of or addition to any fuel- or refuse-burning plant, equipment
or device or any stack connected thereto or the issuance and delivery of an
original or an annual certificate of operation shall not be a bar to prosecution
because of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter.
A.
It shall be the duty of a person engaged in the business
of selling fuel- or refuse-burning equipment or devices which are required
to be connected to a vent or stack to report to the Smoke Inspector the sale
of every such equipment or device to be installed or used anywhere within
the town, and it shall be the duty of every person purchasing any such equipment
or device at the time of making such purchase to give to the seller a statement
in writing, signed by such purchaser or his duly authorized agent, setting
forth the correct address of the building in which such equipment or device
is to be installed or used.
B.
The report herein provided for shall be in writing and
shall be delivered or mailed to the Smoke Inspector within seven days after
such sale and shall contain the name and the address of the purchaser and
the location of the building in which such equipment or device is to be installed
or used.
C.
A false statement or report in connection with the sale
of any such equipment or device shall be a violation of the provisions of
this chapter.
Fuel-burning equipment or devices installed to heat buildings used exclusively
for private residences containing less than five dwelling units or flats shall
be equipped with efficient smoke-eliminating apparatus unless such equipment
or device is fueled with anthracite coal, coke, oil, gas or other smokeless
fuel.
All boilers used in connection with steam shovels or used for stationary
work shall, when operated, use only smokeless-type (bituminous) or anthracite
coal, coke, oil, gas or other smokeless fuel.
The owner or operator of every fuel- or refuse-burning plant, equipment
or device, except those in which the only fuel is gas or oil and except those
in buildings used exclusively for private residences containing less than
five dwelling units or flats, shall provide means whereby the fireman may
be enabled to know, without leaving the boiler or furnace room, whether or
not prohibited smoke is issuing from the stack. Such means of observation
shall be one of the following:
A.
A window or other opening through which an unobstructed
view of the top of the stack may be had from the boiler or furnace room.
B.
A mirror, so placed as to reflect the top of the stack,
visible from the boiler or furnace room.
C.
A smoke indicator installed so as to accurately indicate
the type, volume and character of smoke being discharged.
A.
The Smoke Inspector and/or his assistants shall be permitted
to enter any premises within the town and to inspect said premises and the
fuel- or refuse-burning plant, equipment or device therein at all reasonable
hours for the purpose of administering and enforcing the provisions of this
chapter.
B.
No person shall in any manner hinder, obstruct, delay,
resist, prevent or interfere with the agents or employees of the town while
administering or enforcing the provisions of this chapter nor refuse them
entrance to premises for that purpose.
[Amended 5-21-1984 by L.L. No. 8-1984]
A.
Any violation by a person, firm or corporation of any
provision of this chapter shall be deemed a violation punishable by a fine
not to exceed $250 or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed 15 days,
or both.
B.
Any person who takes part in or assists in any violation
of this chapter shall also be subject to the penalties provided herein.
C.
Each day that a violation of this chapter is committed
or permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.
D.
Each unlawful emission of dense smoke, dust, soot, cinders,
fly ash, noxious acids, fumes or gases shall constitute a separate violation.
E.
A person participating in any such violation,
either as owner, proprietor, lessee, agent, tenant, manager, superintendent,
captain, engineer, fireman or janitor, or otherwise, shall be liable therefor
and subject to the fines or penalties fixed by this chapter upon conviction
thereof.
