[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of
Marple 7-12-1971 as Ch. 26 of the 1971 Code. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
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 Marple,
it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Township of Marple to safeguard
the citizens of the township from air pollution.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise, shall have the following meanings
respectively ascribed to them:
Any place, facility or equipment, stationary or mobile, at, from
or by reason of which there is emitted into the outdoor atmosphere any air
contaminant.[1]
The presence in the outdoor atmosphere of any form of contaminant,
including, but not limited to, the discharging from stacks, chimneys, openings,
buildings, structures, open fires, vehicles, processes or any other source
of any smoke, soot, fly ash, dust, cinders, dirt, noxious or obnoxious acids,
fumes, oxides, gases, vapors, odors, toxic, hazardous or radioactive substances,
waste or any other matter in such place, manner or concentration inimical
or which may be inimical to the public health, safety or welfare or which
is or may be injurious to human, plant or animal life or to property or which
unreasonably interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property.[2]
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, sewage sludge 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 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.
Authorized position. The Health Officer, all police officers
and such other persons as may be designated by the Board of Commissioners,
shall serve as health officers.
B.
Duties. Health officers shall have the powers and duties
to:
(1)
Enforce the provisions of this chapter and the rules
and regulations contained therein.
(2)
Receive and initiate complaints of violations of the
regulations of this chapter.
(3)
Enter and inspect any building, property, premise or
place 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 regulation of this chapter.
(4)
Send written notice of any violation of this chapter
to the person responsible for the violation.
(5)
Institute prosecution for violation of the regulations
of this chapter.
(6)
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 of 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 of the Ringelmann
Smoke Chart. Exception: Smoke emitted during the cleaning of a firebox or
the building of a new fire may not exceed No. 2 of the Ringelmann Smoke Chart
for a period or periods aggregating not more than six minutes in any 60 consecutive
minutes.
B.
No person shall install or operate an incinerator in
the Township of Marple from and after the effective date of this chapter,
provided that any incinerator installed or operated on the effective date
of this chapter may be continued in use for a period of time not to exceed
two years from the effective date of this chapter. This provision shall not
apply to an incinerator operated by a public agency primarily for the reduction
of refuse from municipal refuse collection systems when such incinerator bears
a current approval from the Air Pollution Commission of the Pennsylvania Department
of Health and is operated within the requirements of the Air Pollution Commission.
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.
(4)
Open fires for recreation purposes, such as camp fires
and the use of salamanders or similar devices used for heating by construction
workers.
(5)
Burning permit.
[Added 3-13-1972 by Ord. No. 72-6;
amended 5-10-1976 by Ord. No. 76-7; repealed 4-11-1977
by Ord. No. 77-7]
(6)
The burning of leaves, twigs, brush or other such material
is prohibited in the Township of Marple.
[Added 5-10-1976 by Ord. No. 76-7;
amended 4-9-1979 by Ord. No. 79-4; 10-9-1984
by Ord. No. 84-19; 5-11-1992 by Ord.
No. 92-11]
D.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the emission
of any noxious or offensive odor from an air-contamination source.
E.
All tree leaves placed for refuse collection shall be
deposited in securely fastened biodegradable paper bags.
[Amended 6-12-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-10]
F.
No person shall in any manner hinder, delay, obstruct,
resist, prevent or in any way interfere with the Health Officer in the performance
of his duty hereunder, or refuse such officer, after proper identification,
entrance at reasonable hours to any premises.
G.
No person shall fail, neglect or refuse to comply with
any written abatement notice served on such person, either personally or by
registered or certified mail, issued by the Health Officer. Such notice shall
set forth a violation of this chapter and a time within which the violation
is to be abated. Any person receiving such abatement notice may obtain an
extension of time to comply therewith by making application to and obtaining
the approval of the Board of Health when such extension is in the public interest
and an acute health hazard or nuisance does not exist.
H.
No person shall in any manner burn or cause to be burned
anything at any time within the limits of a paved street.
[Added 5-10-1976 by Ord. No. 76-7]
I.
Notwithstanding the regulations as prescribed in the
above-specified section, all provisions of the BOCA National Fire Prevention
Code, 1999 Edition, shall remain in effect.
[Added 4-11-1977 by Ord. No. 77-6;
amended 4-11-1977 by Ord. No. 77-7; 6-12-2000
by Ord. No. 2000-10]
A.
Prosecutions under this chapter shall be instituted by
the Health Officer and shall be prosecuted in the name of the Township of
Marple. Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof, be subject to a maximum fine of $1,000, plus costs
of prosecution, and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 30 days. Each day that a violation exists shall constitute
a separate offense.
[Amended 6-12-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-10]
B.
The Health Officer may institute an action in equity
for an injunction to restrain continuous violations of this chapter in the
event that the Health Officer has issued an abatement notice which is being
violated and which is not then the subject of judicial review.
