The Authority shall allocate capacity of the
system in terms of individual dwelling units ("IDUs") in the case
of residential units or on a daily flow rate basis in the case of
metered customers. Applicants for allocation of capacity for a particular
tract of land shall determine the estimated number of individual dwelling
units in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Authority's
Rules and Regulations and its resolutions concerning tapping and connection
fees.
The Authority shall reserve the allocated capacity
for a particular tract of land within the Authority's service area,
and such capacity cannot be transferred to any other tract. The reserved
capacity shall belong to the owner of the tract of land until the
owner of the tract provides notice to the Authority of the transfer
of ownership of the tract of land for which capacity has been reserved.
All requests for allocation and reservation
of capacity in the system shall be made in writing on a form supplied
by the Authority, and shall include such information as requested
by the Authority and its Engineer concerning the location of the property
to be serviced, the size of the tract, the proposed use, status of
subdivision and/or land development application, if any, the estimated
flows and/or the number of IDUs.
A.
Capacity remaining in the system shall be allocated
on a first-come-first-served basis. Allocation shall be made only
after the Authority approves the request, and only after the applicant
pays, in full, an amount equal to an annual rate per IDU or on a daily
flow rate basis as established through Authority resolution multiplied
by either the number of IDUs or the daily flow for which the reservation
of capacity has been approved by the Authority.
B.
The order in which capacity shall be allocated to
owners shall be determined by the order in which requests are received
and logged in by the Authority's designated representative. The entire
request for capacity of an owner shall be allocated before any remaining
capacity is allocated to a subsequent owner.
A.
After capacity has been allocated to an owner, it
shall be reserved for the tract of land set forth in the application.
All reservations of capacity shall be made in accordance with the
provisions of these Rules and Regulations.
B.
All reservations of capacity for a tract of land,
shall remain valid indefinitely from the date the Authority approves
the initial allocation and the reservation of the capacity for the
tract of land, provided the owner pays the required fee per year,
per IDU or per gallon of flow on or before the annual anniversary
dates of the Authority's approval of such reservation. This fee shall
be established through resolution of the Authority and shall be payable
for the year in advance. If the owner fails to pay the required annual
fee by the reservation anniversary date for the next year in advance,
then the reservation shall expire on the day after the anniversary
date of the Authority's approval of such reservation.
C.
If, after allocation and reservation of capacity,
the owner received subdivision and/or land development approval for
his proposed use that would permit less intensive development than
that for which capacity was requested, any IDUs or gallons of flow
that are not required by the development as approved through the subdivision
and land development process shall be available to the Authority for
reallocation. For example, if an owner requests allocation and reservation
of capacity for a 100 IDU development, but the land development plan
as approved permits the erection of only 75 IDUs, then 25 IDUs shall
become available to the Authority for reallocation by the Authority.
In such case, the reservation fees paid for the unneeded IDUs (25
IDUs in this example) shall be refunded to the owner for the year
in which the land development plan was approved.
If an owner transfers ownership of the tract
of land to which an allocation and reservation of capacity has been
made, the Authority may permit the allocation and reservation to be
transferred with the tract to the new owner, provided that the required
number of IDUs or gallons of flow for the transferee's proposed use
remains constant. The transferee of the tract of land shall not allocate
any additional IDUs or gallons of flow as a result of the transfer
or any proposed change in the use of the tract. As a condition of
approval, the Authority must receive and approve an application for
such transfer submitted by the transferee, which shall include (but
not be limited to) documentation such as the names of the old and
new owner of the tract and any information related to the capacity
requirements and use of the tract by the transferee. Under no circumstances
may an owner transfer reserved capacity from one tract of land to
another.
A.
Fees for the reservation of capacity shall be equal
to an amount established by Authority resolution per IDU or per gallon
of flow per day, which shall reserve capacity for one year. This fee
shall in no case exceed 60% of the then-current sewer rental rate
established under the Authority's Rules and Regulations and shall
in all respects be consistent with PA Act 57 (Authorities Act, 53
Pa.C.S.A. § 5601 et seq.). Capacity shall be reserved by
paying the fees listed under Appendix BB.
B.
Prepayment of reservation fees is allowed without
discount.
C.
Reservation fees shall be nonrefundable unless as
described under these Rules and Regulations. Reservation fees payable
hereunder shall not act as a credit towards the then-current tapping
fees imposed by the Authority.
D.
Payment of reservation fees does not freeze the tapping
fee and connection fee amount that is payable at the time of connection.
The final tapping fee and connection fee amount due and payable shall
equal the then current tapping fee and connection fee amount at the
time a sewer connection permit is obtained.
Extensions of and connections to the sewer system
shall be made in accordance with the Authority's then-current policies
and regulations. Nothing contained herein shall be considered to modify
or abrogate the requirements of such policies, resolutions, regulations
and/or statues. Nothing in these Rules and Regulations shall prevent
the Authority from enforcing any of its other rules and regulations,
including those that would limit and/or prevent certain types of wastes
from being discharged into the Authority's sewer system.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 125-9, Preexisting allocations
and reservations of capacity was repealed as follows: Subsection A,
regarding connection to the sewer system without securing reservation
capacity, was repealed 10-22-2015 by Res. No. 15-10-003; Subsection
B, regarding the expiration of reservations of capacity, was repealed
11-19-2015 by Res. No. 15-11-001.
A.
All owners and developers who desire to connect to
the Authority's sewer system shall either apply for and obtain reserve
sewer capacity or purchase sewer capacity by paying the then-current
tapping fee, with certain exemptions as described in this chapter
of these Rules and Regulations.
B.
Reservation fees; planning module exemptions.
[Amended 10-22-2015 by Res. No. 15-10-003]
(1)
Adequate sewage capacity is a mandatory prerequisite for a municipality
to approve certain plans. In addition, there is a need to assure that
adequate sewer capacity is retained even after municipal plan approval,
up to the time that all lots are issued a sewer connection permit.
Therefore, in any of the following instances, the developer shall
certify that adequate reserved sewer capacity shall be maintained
within the sewer system for all lots in the development through the
prompt and adequate payment of any required reservation fees:
(2)
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the developer in question will
be applying for a planning exemption from a sewer module under the
Sewage Facilities Act, then that person must certify that adequate
reserved sewer capacity shall be maintained within the Authority sewer
system for all lots in the development by paying the required reservation
fee prior to applying for the sewer module planning exemption. It
is the developer's responsibility to inform the Authority that it
will be applying for a sewer module planning exemption prior to the
Authority issuing a letter indicating that adequate capacity is then
available for the project.
This chapter of the Rules and Regulations related
to reservation of capacity shall apply to all owners and developers
who apply for sewer capacity in the sewer system for any project.
Depending on the progress of an owner's or developer's project, the
owner or developer will be required to either purchase sewer reservation
or to pay the sewer tapping fees. Owners or developers who possess
special agreements with the Authority may be exempt from these Rules
and Regulations related to reservation of capacity, and those owners
or developers who have previously paid for tap-ins shall be exempt
from these Rules and Regulations related to reservation of capacity.
[Amended 8-26-2021 by Res. No. 21-08-001]
A.
In the event any governmental or regulatory body or
court having competent jurisdiction to do so ever reduces the Authority’s
capacity in its sewer system and such reduction makes it impossible
for the Authority to honor the capacity previously secured or reserved
as approved by the Authority, the Authority shall take the following
steps:
(1)
Reallocate its remaining capacity (after such reduction)
among all parties who have secured or reserved capacity from the Authority.
Such reallocation shall be made on a proportionate basis among all
holders of secured or reserved capacity in the same proportion as
such party’s secured or reserved capacity bear to the total
secured or reserved capacity then in effect. Any localized capacity
reduction will be reallocated on a proportionate basis among holders
of secured or reserved capacity within the affected area of localized
capacity reduction.
(2)
Refund any reservation fees paid for the current year
for reserved capacity lost to each party.
(3)
Refund any tapping fees paid for secured capacity lost to each party
B.
The Authority shall, in the event of a reduction of
capacity, give written notice to all parties holding secured or reserved
capacity, informing them of the cause of the reduction in capacity,
providing a calculation of the reduction in capacity and the amount
of capacity reallocated to such party. The notice shall also contain
a calculation of the fees that will be refundable in connection with
the reallocated capacity. This can be illustrated by the following
hypothetical situation:
(1)
The Authority previously approved 1,000 IDUs of secured
or reserved capacity for the following developers or other parties
in the following amounts:
(2)
If the Authority’s available capacity in the
sewer system is reduced from 1,000 IDUs to 500 IDUs, the 500 IDUs
of capacity shall be reallocated to parties A, B, and C in proportion
to their previously secured or reserved capacity as follows:
(3)
The fees paid by Party A in connection with the 250
IDUs of capacity which have been lost as a result of the reduction
in capacity, will be refunded to Party A in connection with the 250
IDUs of relocated capacity. Likewise, the fees paid in connection
with the capacity which have been lost by Party B and Party C shall
be refunded to Party B and Party C.
