This article is enacted pursuant to the authority
granted to the Township by all relevant federal and state laws and
their corresponding regulations, including, without limitation, the
following:
A. The provisions of the Second Class Township Code,
as codified in 53 P.S. § 65101 et seq., which authorize
the Township to provide for the protection and preservation of natural
and human resources, to promote, protect, and facilitate public health,
safety, and general welfare, and to preserve and protect farmland,
woodland, and the recreational uses of land within the Township;
B. The provisions of the Second Class Township Code,
as codified in 53 P.S. § 66501 et seq., which authorize
the Township to enact ordinances concerning the protection of the
Township residents' health, the regulation of refuse material and
nuisances, and the promotion of public safety;
C. The provisions of the Second Class Township Code,
as codified in 53 P.S. § 67101, which empower the Township
to prohibit the accumulation of ashes, garbage, solid waste, and other
refuse materials within the Township;
D. The Pennsylvania Constitution, Article
I, Section 27;
E. The Solid Waste Management Act, 35 P.S. § 6018.101
et seq., which expressly reserves the rights and remedies of townships
concerning solid waste within their borders;
F. The Pennsylvania Nutrient Management Act, 3 Pa.C.S.A.
§ 501 et seq.;
G. The Municipal Waste Regulations, 25 Pa. Code §§ 271,
275, 287, 291 et seq.;
H. The Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 7416
and 7431; and
I. Land Application of Sewage Sludge, 40 CFR Part 503.
In support of the enactment of this article,
the Board of Supervisors of Maidencreek Township finds and declares:
A. The land application of sewage sludge in the Township
that fails to comply with acceptable methods, quantities, and standards
poses a significant threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the
citizens and the environment of the Township if the levels of heavy
metals, pathogens, chemicals, radioactive material, vector attractants,
or other pollutants in the sewage sludge exceed the levels determined
to be safe by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP);
B. In order to protect the health, safety, and welfare
of the residents of the Township, the soil, groundwater and surface
water, and the environment, it is necessary to require any person
who intends to land apply sewage sludge in Maidencreek Township to
obtain a site registration from the Township to do so and for the
Township to have the right to test the soil and each truckload of
sewage sludge that is applied within the Township to confirm compliance
with applicable regulations regulating the land application of sewage
sludge;
C. It appears that DEP does not presently possess adequate
staff to ensure that persons applying sewage sludge in the Township
are doing so in compliance with federal and state laws and regulations,
and so the Township must enforce such compliance by methods consistent
with federal and state laws and regulations concerning land application
of sewage sludge;
D. The intent of this article is to authorize Township
testing and monitoring of land application and storage of sewage sludge
within the Township to ensure its compliance with existing standards
and requirements otherwise provided by law, as well as to create Township
standards identical to those of the Department of Environmental Protection
to enable the Township to determine compliance with state laws regulating
land application of sewage sludge; and
E. It is the intent of the Township for this article
to pertain to land application and storage of sewage sludge, and not
residual food processing wastes.
The following words and phrases when used in
this article shall have the meanings given to them in this section
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
AGRONOMIC RATE
The annual whole sludge application rate (dry weight basis)
designed to do the following:
A.
Provide the amount of nitrogen needed by the
food crop, feed crop, fiber crop, silvicultural crop, cover crop,
horticultural crop or vegetation grown on the land; and
B.
Minimize the amount of nitrogen in the sewage
sludge that passes below the root zone of the crop or vegetation grown
on the land to the groundwater. 25 Pa. Code Chapter 271, Subchapter
J, § 271.907.
BENEFICIAL USE
Use or reuse of residual waste or material derived from residual
waste for commercial, industrial, or governmental purposes where the
use or reuse does not harm or threaten public health, safety, welfare,
or the environment, or the use or reuse of processed municipal waste
for any purpose where the use or reuse does not harm or threaten public
health, safety, welfare, or the environment. 25 Pa. Code Chapter 271,
Subchapter A, § 271.1.
DEP
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection.
LAND APPLICATION or LAND APPLY
The spraying or spreading of sewage sludge onto the land
surface for beneficial use; the injection of sewage sludge below the
land surface for beneficial use; or the incorporation of sewage sludge
into the soil for beneficial use so that the sewage sludge can either
condition the soil or fertilize crops for vegetation grown in the
soil. 25 Pa. Code Chapter 271, Subchapter J, § 271.907.
ORDINANCE
The Maidencreek Township Sewage Sludge Ordinance.
PATHOGENS
Organisms that cause disease, including, without limitation,
certain bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and viable helminth ova.
PERSON
Any natural person, company, corporation, business, contractor,
joint venture, trust, trustee, court-appointed representative, syndicate,
association, partnership, firm, club, institution, cooperative enterprise,
or agency; any government corporation, municipal corporation, city,
county, municipality, district, or other political subdivision, department,
bureau, agency, or instrumentality of federal, state, or local government;
any other entity recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties;
and any officer, agent, employee, independent contractor, or representative
of any kind of any of the aforementioned persons.
POLLUTANT
An organic substance, inorganic substance, a combination
of organic substances, a pathogenic organism, or any other substance
identified by DEP that, after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion,
inhalation, or assimilation into an organism either directly from
the environment or indirectly from ingestion through the food chain,
could, on the basis of information available to DEP, cause death,
disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological
malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction), or physical
deformation in either organisms or offspring of organisms. 25 Pa.
Code Chapter 271, Subchapter J, § 271.907.
SEWAGE SLUDGE
Liquid or solid sludge and other residue from a municipal
sewage collection and treatment system, and liquid or solid sludge
and other residue from septic and holding tank pumpings from commercial,
industrial, or residential establishments. The term includes material
derived from sewage sludge. The term does not include ash generated
during the firing of sewage sludge in a sewage sludge incinerator,
grit and screenings generated during preliminary treatment of sewage
sludge at a municipal sewage collection and treatment system, or grit,
screenings, or inorganic objects from septic and holding tank pumpings.
25 Pa. Code Chapter 271, Subchapter A, § 271.1.
SITE REGISTRATION
A written recognition by the Township issued to the applicant
after applicant has provided the Township with all information required
by this article, which will aid the Township in monitoring the applicant's
land application of sewage sludge operations and will enable the Township
to determine if the operations are within the parameters of the DEP
regulations.
STORAGE
The containment of any waste on a temporary basis in such
a manner as not to constitute disposal of such waste. It shall be
presumed that the containment of such waste in excess of one year
constitutes disposal. This presumption can be overcome by clear and
convincing evidence to the contrary.
TOWNSHIP
Maidencreek Township in Berks County, Pennsylvania, its Board
of Supervisors, or its representatives or agents.
VECTOR ATTRACTION
The characteristic of sewage sludge that attracts rodents,
flies, mosquitoes, or other organisms capable of transporting infectious
agents (vectors). 25 Pa. Code Chapter 271, Subchapter J, § 271.931.
At least 30 days prior to the first land application
of sewage sludge to any site in the Township, the person intending
to land apply sewage sludge in the Township must complete and submit
an application for a site registration from the Township. Site registrations
issued by the Township shall be valid for a period concurrent with
the analogous DEP permit the land applier is operating under. No site
registration will be issued unless a valid DEP permit for land application
of sewage sludge has been issued. The Township shall issue or deny
the site registration within 30 days of receiving the applicant's
submission. If the submission is not administratively complete, a
site registration will be denied. An administratively complete site
registration application submission shall include all of the following
items:
A. A completed Township application for site registration
including, but not limited to, the name and address of the generator
of the sewage sludge to be land applied in the Township, the name
and address of the land applier of the sewage sludge, the name and
address of the owner of the land to which the sewage sludge is to
be applied;
B. A copy of the valid DEP permit for land application
of sewage sludge that the land applier is covered under;
C. A copy of the thirty-day notification of first land
application submitted to DEP by the land applier, and any exhibits
or attachments thereto; and to the extent that it has not already
been provided with the thirty-day notification of first land application,
or as an exhibit or attachment, thereto, the following shall be provided:
(1) A copy of the contractual consent of landowner;
(2) If sewage sludge is to be stored on the site, a map
locating the proposed storage areas and a detailed description of
the design, construction and operation of the storage area(s);
(3) A list of adjacent landowner(s) to the site and copy
of each required notice that was provided;
(4) A copy of the farmers conservation plan;
(5) Soil chemical analytical results for the following
parameters in each field at the site: arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead,
mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, zinc, polychlorinated biphenols
(PCBs) and pH;
(6) A copy of the sheet showing how the agronomic rates
are calculated; and
(7) A copy of the Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory
Form;
D. A nonrefundable administrative fee of $500 is to be
submitted with the application, which shall be sufficient to cover
all Township expenses reasonably incurred to process the site registration;
E. A certificate of insurance, bond, indemnification
agreement or such other financial security as may be in place and
which addresses injury to persons and/or damage to property which
might arise or result from the aforesaid activities and the applicant's
faithful performance of the conditions of any and all applicable permits
and/or providing for remediation or restoration in the event of default
in the faithful performance of said obligations. The policies, bonds,
guarantees and/or evidence of financial security shall remain in full
force and effect for the entire duration of said activities and/or
the life and term of the permit and for at least two years following
the termination of such activities and/or permit and shall be in the
amount of $1,000,000; and
F. Certify by letter that the documentation the land
applier has submitted demonstrates it has complied with all applicable
federal, state, and local laws and regulations concerning the land
application of sewage sludge, including without limitation, 40 CFR
Chapter 503, 25 Pa. Code, Chapters 271, 275, 287, and 291, and this
and other Township ordinances, all as amended.
No sewage sludge shall be applied to any land
within the Township at a rate that is greater than the agronomic rate,
unless a greater application rate is approved by DEP for land reclamation
activities.
The Maidencreek Board of Supervisors may promulgate
regulations relating to the site registration documentation, the operation,
limitations, and enforcement of this article by resolution from time
to time.