The purpose of this article is to establish
procedures for the use and maintenance of holding tanks designed to
receive and retain sewage from new construction of residential or
commercial premises that would be completed for occupancy prior to
the completion of a public sewer system constructed by the Township
of East Allen, existing residential or commercial establishments that
are experiencing a failure of an existing on-lot sewer system in an
area where the public sewer system may or may not be constructed,
a permanent use by a commercial establishment that will generate a
sewage flow of less than 800 gallons per day and may not be served
by public sewers in the future. It is hereby declared that the enactment
of this article is necessary for the protection, benefit, and preservation
of the health, safety, and welfare of the inhabitants of the Township.
Unless the context specifically and clearly
indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this article shall
be as follows:
BOARD
Board of Supervisors of the Township of East Allen, Northampton
County, Pennsylvania.
DEPARTMENT
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection or
its successor state agency.
DISPOSAL SITE
A suitable facility for the final disposition of human and
animal sewage and wastes, which facility shall have been and remains
approved for such purposes by the Department.
HOLDING TANK
A watertight receptacle which receives and retains sewage
conveyed to it by means of a watertight pipe carrying system and which
is designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of the
sewage at another site.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
A property within the Township upon which there is erected
a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy,
or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sewage
shall or may be discharged.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation,
or other group or entity.
REGULATIONS
The regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection, Pennsylvania Code Title 25, Subpart C, Regulations of
the Department pertaining to holding tanks.
SEWAGE
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals
and noxious or deleterious substances being harmful or inimical to
the public health or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of water
for domestic water supply or for recreation or which constitutes pollution
under the Clean Streams Law.
TOWNSHIP
East Allen Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
The Board shall have the right and power to
fix, alter, charge, and collect rates, assessments, and other charges
in the area served by its facilities at reasonable and uniform rates
as authorized by applicable law. These charges, rates, and assessments
shall be established by resolution. In addition, all legal and sewage
enforcement fees in regard to the processing of a permit including
the preparation and recording of all legal documents shall be paid
by the applicant.
The collection and transportation of all sewage
from an improved property utilizing a holding tank shall be the responsibility
of the property owner subject to the direction and control of the
Township and the disposal thereof shall be made only at such site
or sites as may be approved by the Department of Environmental Protection
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes
a holding tank shall:
A. Maintain the holding; tank in conformance with this
or any ordinance of the Township, the provisions of any applicable
law, and any administrative agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and permit the collection, transportation, and disposal of the contents
therein, only in accordance with the rates, rules, and regulations
adopted by the Board. Said rates, rules, and regulations shall be
imposed and may, from time to time, be amended by the Board by resolution.
B. Obtain from the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer
or the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, or any
successor thereof, the approval for sewage disposal by means of holding
tanks.
C. Submit to the Township an appropriate Sewage Facilities
Planning Module, if required.
D. Post a cash escrow with the Township in an amount
approved by the Board, which shall be used by the Township in the
event it is necessary for the Township to effect the transportation
and disposal of sewage from the owner’s property because of
the owner’s failure or refusal to do so, or for payment of the
Sewage Enforcement Officer’s cost and legal costs incurred by
the Township, as a result of the application for and issuance of a
holding tank permit, and for the enforcement of the article or regulations
adopted pursuant to this article. The unused balance of any escrow
shall be returned to the owner upon proper removal of the holding
tank. It shall not be necessary to hold said escrow funds in an interest-bearing
account but, if it is, the accrued interest on the escrow shall be
credited to the balance of the account of the individual applicant.
E. Have deemed to have granted his consent for inspections
of the holding tank and facilities used in connection with the holding
tank by the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer. At reasonable times
during the hours of 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., the owner shall grant
the Sewage Enforcement Officer access to the premises for the purpose
of making such inspections upon request of the Sewage Enforcement
Officer verbally or in writing.
F. The owner shall maintain a record of all pumping receipts
and, upon request by the Sewage Enforcement Officer, the owner shall
furnish the Sewage Enforcement Officer with a true and correct copy
of all pumping receipts for cleaning or removing the contents of the
holding tanks. Such receipts shall be submitted to the Sewage Enforcement
Officer within 10 days after the contents of the holding tank are
pumped out.
The failure of an owner to comply with §§
186-18 and
186-19E and
F of this article shall be grounds for immediate revocation of the permit by the Sewage Enforcement Officer. The owner may appeal the revocation notice in accordance with the procedures found in the regulations.
In the event a holding tank permit has been
issued for new construction pending the installation of an off-site
sewage disposal system, the owner shall remove or cause the removal
of the holding tank within 20 days after connection to the off-site
sewage disposal system is made.
This article shall be enforced by action brought
before a District Justice in the same manner provided for the enforcement
of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Any person who violates or permits the violation of this article shall,
upon conviction in a summary proceeding, be punishable by a fine of
not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90
days. Each day or portion thereof that such violation continues or
is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense. Each
section of this article that is violated shall also constitute a separate
offense.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of §
186-19 above shall constitute a public nuisance and shall be abated by the Township or any other affected person by seeking appropriate equitable or legal relief.