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:
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Lehigh, Northampton
County, Pennsylvania.
DEPARTMENT
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection or
its successor state agency.
DISPOSAL SITE
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.
HOLDING TANK
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.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
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.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
of other group or entity.
REGULATIONS
The regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection, Pennsylvania Code, Title 25, Subpart C, Regulation of
the Department, pertaining to holding tanks.
SEWAGE
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.
TOWNSHIP
Lehigh Township, Northampton County, 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.
The failure of a landowner to comply with §
126-15 and §
126-16E and
F of this article shall be grounds for immediate revocation of the permit by the Sewage Enforcement Officer. The owner may appeal the revocation notice in accordance with the procedures found in the regulations.
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.
Penalties for violation of this article shall be as provided in Chapter
1, General Provisions, Article
II.
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.