Unless the context specifically and clearly
indicates otherwise, the meanings of the terms used in this article
shall be as follows:
ALLOWABLE INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance, waterborne waste
or form of energy ejected or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing,
trade or business process or from the development, recovery or processing
of natural resources, as distinct from sanitary sewage, which is allowed
to be discharged into the sewer system by the governing body of the
public sewer service provider, or allowable by rules and regulations
of the public sewer service provider.
COLUMBIA
The Borough of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
and the Columbia Borough Authority.
DEP
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
Any property within this municipality 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 municipality 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 municipality 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, but not sanitary sewage.
LASA
Lancaster Area Sewer Authority.
LATERAL SEWER or SERVICE CONNECTION
That part of the sewer system extending from a sewer to the
curbline or, if there shall be no curbline, to the edge of the street
abutting the property affected or, if no such lateral shall be provided,
then "lateral sewer" or "service connection" shall mean that portion
of, or place in, the sanitary sewer which is provided for the connection
of any service line.
MUNICIPAL ENGINEER
An engineer retained or employed by the municipality or any
authorized member of the staff of such engineer.
MUNICIPALITY
The Township of West Hempfield, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
and its duly authorized representatives or agents.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet into a watercourse, ditch, pond, lake or other
body of surface or groundwater.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property situated in the municipality.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, society,
corporation or other group.
PRIVATE SEWER SYSTEM
Any sewer mains, lateral sewers from a sewer main to a service
line or house connection, sewage ejector and/or pumping stations,
sewer force mains and all appurtenant facilities owned and operated
by an individual, corporation, homeowners' association or other person
or entity other than a municipal authority or a political subdivision
and used in the furnishing of sewer services.
PUBLIC SEWER SERVICE PROVIDER
The municipality where the municipality owns or operates
sanitary sewage and/or allowable industrial waste collection and conveyance
lines, LASA where sanitary sewage and/or allowable industrial waste
is conveyed to a sewage treatment plant operated by LASA, and/or Columbia
where sanitary sewage and/or allowable industrial waste is conveyed
to the Columbia Sewage Treatment Plant, as applicable.
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, stormwater and ground water, 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 allowable industrial waste discharged into
the sewer system, and to which stormwater, surface, and ground waters
are not intentionally admitted.
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 sewer
service provider 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 municipality or the public sewer service provider
in furnishing sewage services.
STORM SEWER or STORM DRAIN
A pipe or conduit which carries stormwater, 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.
TENANT
Any person in possession of a whole or a part of improved
property who is not an owner.
The owner of any improved property situate in
the municipality 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 own expense install suitable sanitary facilities and service
lines therein and connect such facilities directly with such sewer
in accordance with the provisions of this article within 90 days after
date of official notice from this municipality to do so, which notice
shall have been given by personal service or as otherwise provided
or permitted by law.
In the event any owner of any such improved
property shall refuse or neglect to connect such property with such
sewer within said ninety-day period, the municipality or its duly
authorized agent (the public sewer service provider), or the agents
of the municipality or said public sewer service provider, may enter
upon such property and construct such connection. In such case, the
proper officials of this municipality shall, upon completion of the
work, send an itemized bill of the cost of construction of such connection
to such owner, which bill shall be payable forthwith. In case of neglect
or refusal by such owner of such property to pay said bill within
30 days thereafter, it shall be the duty of said officials of this
municipality to cause a municipal lien for said 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.
It shall be unlawful to construct or maintain
any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool, sinkhole or similar
receptacle intended for the disposal of sanitary sewage within this
municipality where such sanitary 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 and, at the request of this municipality,
shall be cleansed and filled under the direction and supervision of
this municipality; and any such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic
tank or similar receptacle not so abandoned and, if required by this
municipality, 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.
There is hereby reserved to the public sewer
service provider and this municipality the right to refuse to any
person the privilege of connecting 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
public sewer service provider, the public sewer service provider engineer,
this municipality or the Municipal Engineer, 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.
There is hereby reserved to the public sewer
service provider and this municipality the right to refuse to any
person the privilege of connecting any private sewer system to the
public sewer service provider's sewer system unless the following
conditions have been met:
A. The plans and specifications for such private sewer
system have been reviewed and approved by the public sewer service
provider prior to construction and such private sewer system has been
constructed in accordance with such approved plans and the standards
established by this municipality and the public sewer service provider
from time to time for such private sewer system;
B. The public sewer service provider has inspected such private sewer system prior to connection to the public sewer service provider's sewer system and has determined that the private sewer system has been constructed in accordance with the requirements set forth in §
111-24A(1);
C. The record owner of the lot on which the private sewer
system is to be installed and, if different, the owner of the private
sewer system (collectively the "applicant"), shall enter into an agreement
with the municipality, in recordable form, providing for the long-term
maintenance of the private sewer system which grants the municipality
the right to enter upon the property; to inspect such private sewer
system not less than once each year and, in addition, whenever the
municipality receives a complaint or otherwise has reason to believe
that such private sewer system is not functioning properly; to maintain
such private sewer system if the owner fails to do so; and to recover
the cost of any maintenance performed plus a penalty from the owner.
The agreement shall specifically authorize the municipality to file
a municipal claim against the property served by the private sewer
system to recover costs and fees and shall specifically state that
its provisions are binding upon the applicant executing the agreement
and upon all successive owners of the property and any lots which
are served by the private sewer system until the private sewer system
is removed and the property is connected to a sewer system owned and
operated by a public sewer service provider or until a public sewer
service provider assumes ownership and maintenance responsibility
for the private sewer system and makes it a part of the public sewer
service provider's sewer system;
D. The applicant shall post financial security with the
municipality to secure the future maintenance of the private sewer
system and payment of costs of annual inspection of such private sewer
system. The amount of the financial security shall be based upon the
estimated cost to maintain the particular private sewer system chosen
by the applicant. The financial security shall be posted through an
irrevocable letter of credit in a form acceptable to the Municipality
Solicitor or in a cash escrow which the municipality shall maintain
in a non-interest-bearing account. The municipality shall not release
such financial security until the municipality is provided with alternate
financial security or until the private sewer system is removed and
the property is connected to a sewer system owned and operated by
a public sewer service provider or until a public sewer service provider
assumes ownership and maintenance responsibility for the private sewer
system;
E. The applicant shall demonstrate to the municipality
that the proposed private sewer system meets all applicable DEP regulations
and that the applicant has obtained all necessary approvals and permits;
F. The applicant shall provide the municipality with
a complete set of as-built plans for the private sewer system after
its installation; and
G. The applicant shall reimburse the municipality for
all costs incurred in the preparation of the agreement and its recording.
The municipality shall, with the adoption of
this article, adopt rules and regulations for the satisfactory construction,
operation and maintenance of the sewer system and shall reserve the
right to adopt, from time to time, additional rules and regulations
as it shall deem necessary and proper relating to connections with
the sewer system, which additional rules and regulations, to the extent
appropriate, shall be construed as part of this article.
No person other than this municipality or its
duly authorized agents, the public sewer service provider or its agents,
shall make or cause to be made the connection of any improved property
with a lateral sewer until such person shall have fulfilled each of
the following conditions:
A. Such person shall have notified the municipality or
public sewer service provider of the desire and intention to connect
to a lateral sewer.
B. Such person shall apply for and obtain a permit as
required by this article.
C. Such person shall have given the municipality or public
sewer service provider at least 24 hours' notice of the time when
such service line is to be connected and such connection made so that
the public sewer service provider and/or its authorized agent, as
the agent of this municipality, may inspect the service line, the
work of connection and perform necessary testing.
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 municipality and/or its duly authorized agents and the
public sewer service provider 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.
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 this 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 municipality
and public sewer service provider.
Any person, 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 construction or installation,
shall make proper written application to the municipality and/or its
duly authorized agents or public sewer service provider for a special
permit, pursuant to rules and regulations of the municipality and/or
its duly authorized agents or public sewer service provider applicable
thereto.
It shall be unlawful for any plumber or any
other person to install or connect, or permit to be installed or connected
to the service line or any part of the sewer system, any device or
system designed to discharge any substance other than sanitary sewage
or allowable industrial waste into the sewer system. Without limiting
the foregoing, this provision makes it illegal for any plumber or
other persons to install or connect or permit to be installed or connected,
a sump pump, gutter, downspout or other device to conduct stream,
stormwater, roof, ground, or surface water into the sewer system;
provided, however, that floor drains and cellar drains may be connected
to the service line or sewer system.
Any owner or tenant of improved property located
in the municipality who currently has any roof drains or downspouts
connected to the service line or sewer system shall have said roof
drains or downspouts disconnected within 30 days of the effective
date of this article.
Owners or tenants of improved property located
in the municipality shall disconnect or cause to be disconnected any
sump pump connected to the service line or sewer system within 30
days of the effective date of this article, without being subject
to the penalties provided for in this article. At the expiration of
the thirty-day period, any owner or tenant of improved property who
has, maintains, or permits a sump pump to be connected to the service
line or sewer system shall be subject to the penalties provided for
by this article.
The Municipal Engineer and public sewer service
provider engineer and other duly authorized representatives or employees
of the municipality and/or of the public sewer service provider and
of this municipality 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.
The public sewer service provider engineer and other duly authorized
representatives or employees of the public sewer service provider
and of this municipality bearing proper credentials and identification
shall be permitted, at all reasonable times, to enter any private
sewer system 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.
No person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently
damage, destroy, deface, block or otherwise tamper with any sewer
or any other structure or equipment which is part of the sewer system.
Fines and costs imposed under the provisions
of this article shall be enforceable and recoverable in the manner
at the time provided by applicable law.
Any person violating any of the provisions of
this article, in addition to becoming liable for a fine and costs
of prosecution, shall be liable to the municipality or public sewer
service provider for any expense, loss or damage occasioned the municipality
or public sewer service provider by reason of such violation.