[Adopted 9-19-1995 by Ord. No. 319]
A. 
This article shall be known and may be cited as "An On-Lot Management Program for Upper Southampton Township."
B. 
As mandated by the municipal codes, the Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. § 691.1) and the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (Act of January 24, 1966, P.L. as amended, 35 P.S. § 750.1 et seq., known as Act 537), municipalities have the power and the duty to provide for adequate sewage treatment facilities and for the protection of the public health by preventing the discharge of untreated or inadequately treated sewage. The Sewage Facilities Plan Update for Upper Southampton Township indicates a commitment to formulate and implement an on-lot management program for all lots within the Township utilizing on-lot sewage systems.
C. 
The purpose of this article is to provide for the maintenance, inspection and repair of on-lot sewage systems; and to establish responsibilities for the proper administration of a sewage management program.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ABSORPTION AREA
A component of an individual or community sewage system where liquid from a septic 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.[1]
ON-LOT SEWAGE SYSTEM
A system of piping, tanks or other facilities serving either a single lot or two or more lots and collecting, treating and disposing of domestic sewage into an absorption area.
PERSON
An individual, association, public or private corporation for profit or not-for-profit, partnership, firm, trust, estate, department, board, bureau or agency of the United States, commonwealth, political subdivision, municipality, district, authority or other legal entity which is recognized by the law as the subject of rights and duties. The term includes members of an association, partnership or firm and the officers of a local agency or municipal, public or private corporation for profit or not-for-profit.
PUMPER/HAULER OF ON-LOT SEPTIC SYSTEMS
Any person, as that term is defined in this article, who engages in the cleaning of community or individual on-lot sewage systems and/or transports the sewage removed from these systems for disposal and is licensed by the Bucks County Department of Health. For the purposes of this article, persons identified herein shall be hereinafter referred to as "pumpers/haulers."
[Added 6-9-2020 by Ord. No. 463]
PUMPERS REPORT
The form which shall be used by all licensed pumpers/haulers to report each pumping of an on-lot sewage system in the Township.
[Added 6-9-2020 by Ord. No. 463]
TREATMENT TANK
A tank that provides for aerobic or anaerobic decomposition of sewage to take place prior to discharge to an absorption area. This term shall also include cesspools.
[1]
Editor's Note: The former definitions of "certified septic system inspector" and "licensed sewage hauler," which immediately followed, were repealed 6-9-2020 by Ord. No. 463.
[Amended 6-9-2020 by Ord. No. 463]
A. 
On-lot sewage system pumping and inspection.
(1) 
All on-lot sewage systems in the Township shall be maintained in good and operating condition and in conformance with the accepted standards in the trade and industry, and shall be visually inspected and pumped out by a licensed pumper/hauler selected by the property owner at least once every three years. The three- year time period and cycle shall be determined by the Township.
(2) 
Properties with on-lot sewage systems making use of a septic tank, cesspool and/or dry well, if the same receive solids for the structures served, and pump tank, if present, shall have such systems inspected and pumped. Said inspection and pumping shall occur once every three years. Furthermore, removal of excess amounts of solids or scum shall be required and the baffles of the septic tank shall be inspected by the licensed pumper/hauler in order to determine that the baffles are functioning properly. All costs of excavation, if necessary, shall be borne by the property owner.
(3) 
Within 10 days after each inspection and pump-out, the licensed pumper/hauler shall generate a pumper's report on the form provided by the Township. The pumper's report shall include the findings of the inspection and note any observed malfunctions and/or deficiencies. The Township shall notify the Bucks County Department of Health of any potential malfunctions of the sewerage system.
(4) 
Any deficiencies and/or malfunctions identified shall be repaired within 60 days of the date the condition was identified, weather permitting.
(5) 
Upon repair of the deficiencies and/or malfunctions, the property owner shall submit a receipt documenting the date when the sewage system was repaired, along with a copy of the Bucks County Department of Health permit authorizing such repair. Such receipt and permit must be submitted to the Township within 30 days after the repair.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Upper Southampton, or any officer of the Township designated thereby for this purpose, is hereby authorized to give notice, by personal service or by United States mail, to the person who owns a property on which an on-lot sewage system is located, requiring such owner to pump, inspect or repair the on-lot sewage system and provide the Township with a receipt and other specified information documenting the date on which the on-lot sewage system was pumped, inspected or repaired.
Costs for the municipal administration of the management program, including maintaining on-lot system information and monitoring compliance, shall be assessed to property owners included in the program and will be set by municipal resolution. It shall be each individual property owner's responsibility to contract with a licensed sewage hauler and certified on-lot sewage system inspector for the pumping and inspection of the on-lot sewage system.
[Added 6-19-2012 by Ord. No. 414[1]]
Any violation of 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, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 and/or to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 10 days. Each day that a violation of this article continues, or each section of this article which shall be found to have been violated, shall constitute a separate offense. For purposes of this section, the doing of any act or thing prohibited by any provision of this article, or the failure to do any act or thing as to which any provision of this article creates an affirmative duty, shall constitute a violation of this article punishable as herein stated.
[1]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance also repealed former § 142-19, Enforcement remedies.