[Adopted 12-26-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-13]
The purpose of this article is to establish
procedures for the use and maintenance of holding tanks designed to
receive and retain sewage from new construction of residential and
commercial premises that would be completed for occupancy prior to
the completion of a public sewer system constructed by the Township
of Lehigh, existing residential or commercial establishments that
are experiencing a failure of an existing on-lot sewer system in an
area where the public sewer system may or may not be constructed,
a permanent use by a commercial establishment that will generate less
than 800 gpd and may not be served by public sewers in the future.
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.
Unless the context specifically and clearly
indicates otherwise, the meanings of terms used in this article shall
be as follows:
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Lehigh, Northampton
County, Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection or
its successor state agency.
A suitable facility for the final disposition of human and
animal sewage and wastes, which facility shall have been and remains
approved for such purposes by the Department.
A watertight receptacle which receives sewage conveyed to
it by means of a watertight pipe carrying system and which is designed
and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of the sewage at another
site.
A property within the Township upon which there is erected
a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy
or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sewage
shall or may be discharged and which is within 150 feet of a proposed
sanitary sewer collector main.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
of other group or entity.
The regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection, Pennsylvania Code, Title 25, Subpart C, Regulation of
the Department, pertaining to holding tanks.
Any substance that contains any of 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 to animal or aquatic life or to the use of water
for domestic water supply or for recreation or which constitutes pollution
under the Clean Streams Law.
[1]Lehigh Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
[1]
Note: See 35 P.S. § 691.1 et seq.
A.
The Board of Supervisors is hereby authorized and
empowered to undertake within the Township the control and methods
of holding tanks, sewage disposal and the collection and transportation
thereof.
B.
No permit for a holding tank, however, shall be issued
unless one of the following is applicable:
(1)
The Township has a guaranty that public sanitary sewer
service will be available to the building site within 18 months of
the date of the permit application;
(2)
The on-lot sewer system is malfunctioning and all
subsurface disposal alternatives have been denied; or
(3)
The building is a commercial establishment and will
generate less than 800 gpd of sewage.
C.
No permit for a holding tank shall be issued until
the Township and Sewage Enforcement Officer have obtained a certified
copy of each of the following documents:
(1)
A completed application;
(2)
A written contract between the landowner and qualified
and responsible holding tank cleaner for the term of the holding tank
permit, which contract shall provide for the timely and regular removal
of the contents of the holding tank by the holding tank cleaner and
for the removal of said contents to an approved disposal site for
final disposition;
(3)
A certified copy of a written contract between the
holding tank cleaner and the disposal site, providing the holding
tank cleaner with the right to dispose of the holding tank contents;
(5)
An agreement to reimburse and indemnify the Township
for any liability, costs and expenses which shall or may be incurred
by the Township in actions to enforce compliance by the landowner
or to remove the contents of the holding tank or the holding tank
upon default or failure of the landowner to perform or for any fines
incurred by the Township by reason of the landowner's failure to comply
with this article, any properly enacted amendment hereto or the laws
and regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The agreement
shall be in the form required by the Board of Supervisors.
A.
The Board of Supervisors is hereby authorized and
empowered to adopt by resolution such rules and regulations concerning
sewage which it may deem necessary from time to time to effect the
purpose herein.
B.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the Board
of Supervisors shall be in conformity with the provisions herein,
all other ordinances of the Township and all applicable laws and applicable
rules and regulations of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
The Board of Supervisors shall have the right
and power to fix, alter, charge and collect rates, assessments and
other charges in the area served by its facilities at reasonable and
uniform rates, as authorized by applicable law. These charges, rates
and assessments shall be established by resolution. In addition, all
legal and sewage enforcement fees in regard to the processing of a
permit, including the preparation, and recording of all legal documents,
shall be paid by the applicant.
The collection and transportation of all sewage
from an improved property utilizing a holding tank shall be the responsibility
of the property owner, subject to the direction and control of the
Township, and the disposal thereof shall be made only at such site
or sites as may be approved by the Department of Environmental Protection
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes
a holding tank shall:
A.
Maintain the holding tank in conformance with this
article or any ordinance of this Township, the provisions of any applicable
law and any administrative agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and permit the collection, transportation and disposal of the contents
therein only in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted
by the Board of Supervisors. Said rates, rules and regulations shall
be imposed and may from time to time be amended by the Board of Supervisors
by resolution.
B.
Obtain from the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer
or the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection or any
successor thereof the approval for sanitary sewer disposal by means
of holding tanks.
C.
Submit to the Township an appropriate land planning
module, if required.
D.
Post a cash escrow with the Township in an amount
as set from time to time by resolution or ordinance, as may be required
by law, which shall be used by the Township in the event that it is
necessary for the Township to effect the transportation and disposal
of sewage from the owner's property because of the owner's failure
or refusal to do so or for payment of the Sewage Enforcement Officer
cost and legal costs incurred by the Township as a result of the application
for and issuance of a holding tank permit and for the enforcement
of this article or regulations adopted pursuant to this article. The
unused balance of any escrow shall be returned to the landowner upon
proper removal of the holding tank. It shall not be necessary to hold
said escrow funds in an interest-bearing account, but if it is, the
accrued interest on the escrow shall be credited to the balance of
the account of the individual applicant.
E.
Have deemed to have granted his consent for inspections
of the holding tank and facilities used in connection with the holding
tank by the Sewage Enforcement Officer. At reasonable times during
the hours of 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., the landowner shall grant
the Sewage Enforcement Officer access to the premises for the purpose
of making such inspections upon request of the Sewage Enforcement
Officer, verbally or in writing.
F.
Whenever requested by the Sewage Enforcement Officer
to do so, the landowner shall furnish the Sewage Enforcement Officer
with a true and corrected copy of all pumping receipts for cleaning
or removing the contents of the holding tanks. Such reports, when
requested, shall be made to the Sewage Enforcement Officer within
10 days after the contents of the holding tank are pumped out.
A.
Any holding tank installed or maintained pursuant
to a permit issued under this article shall comply, in all respects,
to the specification set forth in Regulations of the Department, 25
Pa. Code Chapter 73, inclusive.
B.
The landowner shall cause the holding tank and all
lines, pipes or conduits to the same to be maintained in a good, watertight
condition at all times.
C.
All holding tanks shall be installed on a firm and
stable soil or subsoil and in such manner as to prevent settlement
or movement.
D.
No holding tank or lines to the holding tank shall
be covered until the Sewage Enforcement Officer shall have first inspected
and approved the installation and authorized covering the same. The
landowner shall be responsible for furnishing the Sewage Enforcement
Officer with reasonable notice of the installation.
E.
The landowner shall cause a holding tank to be cleaned
as frequently as may be required to maintain the contents as a level
less than 75% of the tank capacity. An alarm shall be installed in
the holding tank to alert the property owner when the holding tank
is 75% full.
F.
Holding tanks shall be installed at least 50 feet
from any source of water supply.
In the event that a holding tank permit has
been issued for new construction pending the installation of an off-site
sewage disposal system, the landowner shall remove or cause the removal
of the holding tank within 20 days after connection to the off-site
sewage disposal system is made.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of § 126-16 above shall constitute a public nuisance and shall be abated by the Township or any other affected person by seeking appropriate equitable or legal relief.
