As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AUTHORITY
ORD Sewer Authority.
AUTHORITY ENGINEER
An engineer retained or employed by the Authority, including any authorized member of the staff of such engineer.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
Any property within this Township upon which there is erected any structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes shall be or may be discharged.
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any property situate in the Township used wholly or in part for the manufacture, processing, cleaning, laundering, or assembling of any product, commodity or article, or any other property situate in this Township from which wastes, in addition to or other than sanitary sewage, are discharged.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or waterborne wastes or form of energy ejected or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing, trade or business process or from the development, recovering or processing of natural resources.
INSPECTION FEE
A fee charged to individuals when they connect to the sewer system to cover the cost of having an Authority agent inspect the connection.
LATERAL SEWER or SERVICE CONNECTION
That part of the sewer system extending from a sewer to the property or easement line or, if no such lateral shall be provided, then "lateral sewer" or "service connection" shall mean that portion of, or place in, a sanitary sewer which is provided for the connection of any service line.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet into a watercourse, ditch, pond, lake or other body of surface water or groundwater.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole or partial, of any property situated in the Township.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, society, corporation or other group.
SANITARY FACILITIES
Toilets, sinks and other plumbing fixtures and related piping intended to receive and discharge sanitary sewage into a service line.
SANITARY SEWAGE
The normal water-carried household and toilet waste from any improved property, excluding, however, the effluent from septic tanks or cesspools, rain-, storm- and groundwater, as well as roof or surface water, drainage of percolating or seeping waters, or accumulation thereof; whether underground or in cellars or basements.
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer which is part of the sewer system and which carries sanitary sewage and/or industrial waste permitted to be discharged into the sewer system.
SERVICE FEES
A periodic fee charged to all individuals who are connected to the sewer system to cover the cost of treating the sanitary sewage and maintaining the collection and treatment facilities.
SERVICE LINE or HOUSE CONNECTION
That part of the main house drain or sewer line extending from a point five feet outside the outer building wall or foundation wall to its connection with the lateral sewer.
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT
Devices and/or structures or facilities owned by the Authority for the treatment and disposal of sanitary sewage and industrial waste.
SEWER
Any pipe or conduit constituting a part of the sewage system and used or usable for sewage collection or transportation purposes.
SEWER SYSTEM
Sewer mains, lateral sewers from a sewer main to service line or house connection, sewage ejector and/or pumping stations, sewer force mains, sewage treatment plants and all appurtenant facilities operated by the ORD Sewer Authority in furnishing sewage service.
STORM SEWER or STORM DRAIN
A pipe or conduit which carries storm surface water, drainage and certain industrial water discharges, such as cooling and air-conditioning waters.
STREET
A public way, including any highway, street, road, lane, court, public square, alley or other passageway.
TAP-IN FEE
A fee assessed against any individual to connect to the sewer system established in conformity with Act 57 of 2003, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 5607.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Rush, Centre County, Pennsylvania.
A. 
The owner of any improved property situate in the Township and abutting on, adjoining or adjacent to, any street, easement or right-of-way in which there shall have been constructed a sanitary sewer forming part of the sewer system, where said property is accessible thereto and any part of the principal building constructed on such improved property is within 150 feet of such sewer, shall at his (her or their) own expense install suitable sanitary facilities therein, connect such facilities directly with such sewer and use the sewer system in accordance with the provisions of this article within 60 days after date of official notice from the Authority so to do, which notice shall have been given by personal service or by registered mail as required by Section 1501.1 of the Second Class Township Code, 53 P.S. § 66501.1.[1] In the event any owner of any improved property shall refuse or neglect to connect such property with such sewer within the sixty-day period, the Authority, or the agents or contractors of the Authority, may enter upon such property and construct such connection. In such case, the proper officials of the Authority shall forthwith, upon completion of the work, send an itemized bill of the cost of construction of such connection to the owner, which bill shall be payable forthwith. In case of neglect or refusal by the owner of such property to pay the bill within 30 days thereafter, it shall be the duty of the officials of the Authority to cause a municipal lien for the construction to be filed, the same to be subject in all respects to the general law provided for the filing and recovery of municipal liens.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 53 P.S. § 67502.
B. 
All sanitary sewage and industrial waste from any improved property, after connection of such improved property with a sewer as required under § 265-55A, shall be established therein or otherwise shall be established from time to time by the Authority.
C. 
It shall be unlawful to discharge or permit the discharge of sanitary or industrial waste or other polluted water into any natural outlet within this Township, unless such discharge is pursuant to a permit issued by, or with the approval of, the Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
D. 
It shall be unlawful to construct or maintain any privy vault, septic tank, cesspool, sinkhole or similar receptacle intended for the disposal of sanitary sewage within this Township where such sewage emanates from any improved property which the owner thereof is required to connect to the sewer system. No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle shall be connected with a sewer at any time. Each such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle shall be abandoned upon the making of such connection to the sewer system, at the request of the Authority, shall be cleansed and filled under the direction and supervision of the Authority; and any such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle not so abandoned and, if required by the Authority; cleansed and filled, shall constitute a nuisance, and such nuisance shall be abated as provided by law at the expense of the owner of such improved property.
E. 
There is hereby reserved to the Authority the right to refuse to any person the privilege of connection any improved property to a sewer, or to compel discontinuance of the use of any sewer by any person, or to compel the pretreatment of industrial wastes in order to prevent discharge into the sewer system of wastes which may be deemed by the Authority, the Authority Engineer or this Township to be harmful to the sewer system or to have a deleterious effect on sewage treatment processes or to be injurious to personnel operating the sewer system.
A. 
No person shall uncover, connect with, make any opening into or use, alter or disturb in any manner any sewer without first making application for and obtaining a permit, in writing, from the Authority. Application to the Authority for a permit required hereunder shall be made by the owner of the improved property to be served, in such form as may be prescribed by the Authority. The application shall be accompanied by the required tapping or connection fee required by the Authority.
B. 
No connection shall be made except under the supervision, control and approval of the Authority or its authorized representative. The application and its acceptance by the Authority shall constitute, from the date of acceptance by the Authority a contract obligating the application to pay rates as established from time to time and to comply with the rules and regulations as established from time to time. Sewer service shall be furnished only after:
(1) 
The owner of the improved property to be served shall have installed, at his own cost and expense, the service line in accordance with the obtain copy and add to the Specifications for Sewer Construction; and
(2) 
The Authority has inspected said service line and approved such facilities as complying with the rules and regulations.
C. 
All costs and expenses of construction of a service line and all costs and expenses in connection of such service line to a lateral sewer shall be borne by the owner of the improved property to be connected, and such owner shall indemnify and save harmless the Authority from all loss or damage that may be occasioned, directly or indirectly, as a result of the construction of a service line or the connection of a service line to a lateral sewer.
D. 
Whenever the surface of any public street, sidewalk or cartway is disturbed by the construction of a service line, it shall be the responsibility of the applicant for a connection to obtain street opening permits from the municipality, or highway occupancy permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Unless otherwise required, all surfacing materials must be restored in kind, thickness and construction to the satisfaction of the Authority.
A. 
Each property must have its own individual service line. Each unit of a double house or townhouse having a solid vertical partition wall shall be considered a separate property requiring individual sewer connections. The Authority, upon request, may grant exceptions to this policy.
B. 
Where commercial or industrial premises in a single ownership consist of more than one building, the Authority reserves the right to determine, under the circumstances of each case, whether each separate building must have its individual sewer connection or whether all buildings together may use a single connection.
C. 
Every service line shall be maintained in a sanitary and safe operating condition by the owner of the improved property served. Whenever the Authority has reason to believe any service line has become defective, such service line shall be subject to test and inspection. Defects found upon such inspection shall be corrected as required by the Authority at the cost and expense of such owner.
Any individual, builder or developer, desiring or required by law to construct or install sanitary sewers, lateral sewers and service lines to serve a house or any housing unit within a real estate development prior to their use or sale or prior to the completion of construction of the sewer system, shall make proper written application to the Authority for a special permit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Authority applicable thereto.
No person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently damage, destroy, deface, block or otherwise tamper with any sewer or any other facility, structure or equipment which is part of the sewer system, or discharge any substance into the sewer system contrary to or in violation of any present or future resolutions or rules and regulations of the Authority which, inter alia, prohibit discharge of wastes into the sewer system.
A. 
The Authority is hereby designated as the agent of the Township for the purpose of adopting or promulgating rules and regulations for the use of the sewer system and connection thereto and receiving all applications for permits required under the provisions of this article, designating place of connection and carrying out all inspections, observations, measurements, samplings and testing required or permitted hereunder with the Township's full power and authority to act in its stead with regard to the rights and privileges reserved to it hereunder. Should the Township wish to undertake and perform rights, privileges, or responsibilities reserved to it hereunder in lieu of the Authority, it shall give the Authority written notice of its assumption of the right, privilege, or responsibility.
B. 
The Township, to the extent permitted by applicable law, delegates to the Authority the right to establish, by resolution of the Authority, tap-in fees, inspection fees, and service fees for any person connecting to and utilizing the sanitary sewer system and hereby authorizes the Authority to take legal action required to collect fees and charges due the Authority.
The Authority Engineer and other duly authorized representatives or employees of the Authority bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted, at all reasonable times, to enter upon any premises connected or about to be connected or required to be connected to the sewer system for the purpose of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance with the provisions of this article.
A. 
Any person who shall violate any provision of this article shall be liable, upon summary conviction, to the Township to a fine of not more than $1,000 for each violation, together with costs of prosecution. A separate offense shall arise for each day or portion thereof in which a violation is found to exist or for each section of this article which is found to have been violated. The Authority is hereby designated and appointed as the agent of this Township for the purpose of institution and prosecution of any suit or summary proceeding for violations of any provisions of this article.
B. 
Fines and costs imposed under the provisions of this article shall be enforceable and recoverable in the manner and at the time provided by applicable law.
It is hereby declared that the enactment of this article is necessary for the protection, benefit, and preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the inhabitants of the Township.