To protect of the waters and soils in Greene
Township from contamination by untreated sewage wastes, and to protect
the health of all citizens of the Township, the Board of Supervisors
has adopted and will enforce this article within those areas not served
by public or central sewer systems. This article is intended to create
an On-Lot Sewage System Management District and shall be known and
cited as the "Greene Township On-Lot Sewage Systems Management Ordinance."
The purpose of this article is:
A. To bring and keep Greene Township within the requirements
of the Clean Streams Law (Act of 1937, P.L. 1987, No. 394) and the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (Act of 1965
P.L. 1535, No. 537, as amended, known as "Act 537"). As mandated by the Second Class Township Code and these
state laws, Townships have the power and the duty to provide for adequate
sewage treatment facilities and for the protection of public health
by preventing the discharge of untreated or inadequately treated sewage.
B. Provide for inspection, pumping, maintenance and rehabilitation
of private and public on-lot sewage disposal systems when determined
necessary by Greene Township, or its authorized agent; to further
permit the Township to intervene in situations which are public nuisances
or hazards to the public health; and to establish penalties and appeal
procedures necessary for the proper administration of a sewage management
program.
C. Guarantee provisions for environmentally sound disposal
sites for treated and untreated solids and scum from septic tanks;
holding tank wastes; and treated sewage sludge from wastewater treatment
facilities.
The following definitions shall apply for the
various terms throughout this article:
ABSORPTION AREA
A component of an individual or community sewage system where
liquid from a treatment tank seeps into the soil. It consists of an
aggregate-filled area containing piping for the distribution of liquid
and the soil or sand/soil combination located beneath the aggregate.
ACT
The Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (35 P.S. §§ 750.1
through 750.20).
AUTHORIZED AGENT
A Township employee, or consultant designated to perform
a specific task for the Greene Township On-Lot Sewage System Management
District. An authorized agent designated to perform a certain duty
shall be familiar with that duty and competent to perform the duty.
Depending on the duty, he may also need to be certified and/or licensed
as a Sewage Enforcement Officer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
BUILDING SEWER
Piping carrying liquid wastes from a building to the treatment
tank or holding tank.
DEPARTMENT
The Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
HOLDING TANK
A tank whether permanent or temporary, to which sewage is
conveyed by a water-carrying system.
INDIVIDUAL SEWAGE SYSTEM
A system of piping, tanks or other facilities serving a single
lot and collecting and disposing of sewage in whole or in part into
the soil or into waters of this commonwealth or by means of conveyance
to another site for final disposal.
LIMITING ZONE
A soil horizon or condition in the soil profile or underlying
strata which includes one of the following:
A.
A seasonal high water table, whether perched
or regional, determined by direct observation of the water table or
indicated by soil mottling.
B.
A rock with open joints, fracture or solution
channels, or masses of loose rock fragments, including gravel, with
insufficient fine soil to fill the voids between the fragments.
C.
A rock formation, other stratum or soil condition
which is so slowly permeable that it effectively limits downward passage
of effluent.
LOT
A part of the subdivision or a parcel of land used as a building
site or intended to be used for building purposes, whether immediate
or future, which should not be further subdivided. Whenever a lot
is used for a multiple-family dwelling or for commercial, institutional
or industrial purposes, the lot shall be deemed to have been subdivided
into an equivalent number of dwelling units as determined by estimated
sewage flows.
OFFICIAL PLAN
A comprehensive plan for the provision of adequate sewage
facilities, adopted by the Greene Township Board of Supervisors possessing
authority or jurisdiction over the provisions of these facilities
and submitted to and approved by the Department as provided by the
Act, and this article.
OFFICIAL PLAN REVISION
A change in the Township's Official Plan to provide for additional
or newly identified or existing sewage facilities needs, which may
include but not be limited to:
A.
UPDATE REVISIONA comprehensive revision to an existing Official Plan required when the Department or Township determines the Official Plan or its parts is inadequate for the existing or future sewage facilities needs of a Township or its residents or landowners.
C.
SPECIAL STUDYA study, survey, investigation, inquiry, research, report or analysis which is directly related to an update revision. The studies provide documentation or other support necessary to solve specific problems identified in the update revision.
PERSON
An individual, association, public or private corporation
for-profit or not-for-profit, partnership, trust, estate, department
board, bureau or agency of the United States, commonwealth, political
subdivision, municipal district, authority or another legal entity
which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties. The
term includes the members of an association, partnership or firm and
the officers of a local agency or municipality, public or private
corporation for-profit or not-for-profit.
PRIVY
A tank designed to receive sewage where water under pressure
is not available.
RURAL RESIDENCE
A structure occupied or intended to be occupied by not more
than two families on a tract of 10 acres or more.
SEWAGE
A substance that contains 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 the animal or aquatic life, or to the use of water
for domestic water supply or for recreation, or which constitutes
pollution under the Clean Stream Law.
SEWAGE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER (SEO)
The official of the local agency who issues permits, reviews
permit applications and sewage facilities planning modules and conducts
investigations and inspections necessary to implement the Act and
the regulations thereunder.
SEWAGE FACILITIES
A system of sewage collection, conveyance, treatment and
disposal which will prevent the discharge of untreated or inadequately
treated sewage or other waste into waters of this commonwealth or
otherwise provide for the safe and sanitary treatment and disposal
of sewage or other waste.
A.
INDIVIDUAL SEWAGE SYSTEMA sewage facility, whether publicly or privately owned, located on a single lot and serving one equivalent dwelling unit and collecting, treating and disposing of sewage in whole or in part into the soil or into waters of this commonwealth or by means of conveyance of retaining tank wastes to another site for final disposal.
B.
INDIVIDUAL ON-LOT SEWAGE SYSTEMAn individual sewage system which uses a system of piping, tanks or other facilities for collecting, treating and disposing of sewage into a subsurface absorption area or a retaining tank.
C.
INDIVIDUAL SEWERAGE SYSTEMAn individual sewage system which uses a method of sewage collection, conveyance, treatment and disposal other than renovation in a subsurface absorption area, or retention in a retaining tank.
D.
COMMUNITY SEWAGE SYSTEMA sewage facility, whether publicly or privately owned, for the collection of sewage from two or more lots, or two or more equivalent dwelling units and the treatment or disposal, or both, of the sewage on one or more of the lots or at another site.
E.
COMMUNITY ON-LOT SEWAGE SYSTEMA community sewage system which uses a system of piping, tanks or other facilities for collecting, treating and disposing of sewage into a subsurface soil absorption area or retaining tank.
F.
COMMUNITY SEWERAGE SYSTEMA community sewage system which uses a method of sewage collection, conveyance, treatment and disposal other than renovation in a subsurface absorption area, or retention in a retaining tank.
SEWAGE MANAGEMENT DISTRICT PROGRAM
A program authorized by the official actions of the Greene
Township Board of Supervisors for the administration, management and
regulation of the disposal of sewage.
SOIL HORIZON
A layer of soil approximately parallel to the soil surface,
the chemical and physical characteristics of which are distinguishable
by observation or other method of analysis from the chemical and physical
characteristics in adjacent layers of soil.
SOIL PROFILE
The collection of soil horizons, including the natural organic
layers on the surface.
SUBDIVISION
The division or redivision of a lot tract or other parcel
of land into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other division of
land, including changes in existing lot lines. The enumerating of
lots shall include as a lot that portion of the original tract remaining
after other lots have been subdivided therefrom.
TOWNSHIP
Greene Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
UNDISTURBED SOIL
Soil or soil profile, unaltered by addition-filling, removal
or other man-induced changes other than agricultural activities for
a minimum of four years prior to testing.
WATERS OF THIS COMMONWEALTH
Rivers, streams, creeks, rivulets, impoundment, ditches,
watercourses, storm sewers, lakes, dammed water, ponds, springs and
other bodies or channels of conveyance of surface and underground
water, or of their parts, whether natural or artificial, within or
on the boundaries of this commonwealth.
The provisions of this article shall apply to
every person owning property serviced by an on-lot sewage disposal
system within Greene Township; all persons or businesses servicing
such systems (constructing on-lot systems, pumping out septic tanks,
repairing on-lot systems); wastewater treatment authorities and other
generators of solid wastes that may be land applied for agricultural
utilization or land reclamation and owners of land application sites
accepting sludge, septage, biosolids or other solid wastes used in
a beneficial way.
Any person who shall install new or rehabilitated sewage systems shall provide a marker or markers at ground level locating the septic tank, dosing tank, equalization (distribution) box, absorption area and other important items which may be needed in case future maintenance, inspection or rehabilitation is required. Requirements for marker types and locations will be determined by the sewage system designer and approved by the SEO. Other requirements for sewage system construction, contained within Chapter
73 of the Pennsylvania Code, shall be followed as well.
Only normal domestic wastewater shall be discharged
into any on-lot sewage system. The following shall not be discharged
into such system:
B. Automobile oil and other nondomestic oil.
C. Toxic or hazardous substances, including but not limited
to pesticides, disinfectants, acids, paints, thinners, herbicides,
gasoline and other solvents.
D. Water, including that from spouts, drains, springs
and pumps.
The Township, upon written notice from the SEO
that an imminent health hazard exists due to failure to maintain,
repair or replace an on-lot sewage system as provided under the terms
of this article, shall have the authority to perform or contract to
have performed the work required by the SEO. The owner of the on-lot
sewage system shall be charged for the work performed, and, if necessary,
a lien shall be entered against this property therefore in accordance
with law.