[Adopted 6-18-2007 by Ord. No. 829[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed
former Art. III, Holding Tanks, adopted 6-28-1976 by Ord. No. 527,
as amended.
The purpose of this article is to establish
procedures for the use and maintenance of retaining tanks designed
to receive and retain sewage for off-site treatment and disposal until
it is discharged, and 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 Butler Township.
Unless the context specifically and clearly
indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this article shall
be as follows:
Any 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.
The Township of Butler, Butler County, Pennsylvania.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
A recreational area of at least 20 acres available to the
public in accordance with the owner's rules.
[Added 6-1-2009 by Ord.
No. 841]
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
A watertight receptacle which receives and retains sewage
and is designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of
the sewage at another site. The term includes the following:
CHEMICAL TOILETA permanent or portable nonflushing toilet using chemical treatment in the retaining tank for odor control.
HOLDING TANKA tank, whether permanent or temporary, to which sewage is conveyed by a water-carrying system.
PRIVYA tank designed to receive sewage where water under pressure is not available.
INCINERATING TOILETA device capable of reducing waste materials to ashes.
COMPOSTING TOILETA device for holding and processing human and organic kitchen waste employing the process of biological degradation through the action of microorganisms to produce a stable, humus-like material.
RECYCLING TOILETA device in which the flushing medium is restored to a condition suitable for reuse in flushing.
EQUALIZATION TANKA watertight tank, designed to temporarily store sewage during periods of heavy storms and precipitation events until the sewage is discharged to the collection and treatment facilities of the Butler Area Sewer Authority.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products, excrement,
other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals or any
noxious or deleterious substance being harmful or inimical to the
public health, to animal or aquatic life, or to the use of water for
domestic water supply or for recreation.
It shall be unlawful for any person to install,
construct, use or maintain a retaining tank in the Township of Butler
without first obtaining a permit from the municipality, paying a permit
fee in an amount as may be established from time to time by resolution
of the Board of Commissioners, posting financial security and executing
an agreement with the Township of Butler regarding the operation and
maintenance of the retaining tank.
A.
Prior to issuance of any permit required by the provisions
of this article, the owner of any improved property shall deposit
with the municipality financial security in an amount sufficient to
cover the costs of such retaining tank and the estimated future maintenance
costs of the retaining tank.
B.
Without limitation as to other types of financial
security which the municipality may approve, which approval shall
not be unreasonably withheld, federal or commonwealth chartered lending
institution deposits and irrevocable letters of credit and restrictive
or escrow accounts in such lending institutions shall be deemed acceptable
financial security for the purposes of this section.
C.
Such financial security shall be posted with a bonding
company or federal or commonwealth chartered lending institution chosen
by the party posting the financial security, provided said bonding
company or lending institution is authorized to conduct such business
within the commonwealth.
D.
Such bond or other security shall provide for and
secure to the public the completion of any improvements which may
be required on or before the date fixed in the formal action of approval
or accompanying agreement for completion of the improvements and the
estimated future cost of maintenance of the retaining tanks and associated
facilities.
E.
The owner of improved property for which a retaining
tank is to be installed shall enter into an agreement with the municipality
setting forth the obligations of the owner with respect to the maintenance,
upkeep and repair of the retaining tank. At a minimum, the agreement
shall provide for minimum design standards, annual inspections, payment
of fees, indemnification of the municipality, enforcement provisions
and bonding requirements. All agreements must be in recordable form,
the recording of which will be at the owner's sole cost and expense.
All agreements must be approved by the municipality's solicitor prior
to execution.
[Amended 6-1-2009 by Ord.
No. 841[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Subsection
F, which immediately followed, regarding the estimated amount of financial
security required.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes
a retaining tank shall:
A.
Maintain the retaining tank in conformance with this
article or any other ordinance of Butler Township, the provisions
of any applicable law and the rules and regulations of Butler Township,
any administrative agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the
Butler Area Sewer Authority.
B.
Properly, safely and regularly collect, transport,
discharge and dispose of the contents therein at approved locations
or to approved public collection and treatment facilities.
Any person who violates any provision of this
article shall, upon conviction thereof by summary proceedings, be
sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $300 and not more than $1,000
and costs, and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to undergo
imprisonment in the county jail for a period not in excess of 90 days.
In addition to any other remedies provided by
this article or the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, any
violation of this article or any violation of the permit conditions
or the laws or regulations of the commonwealth shall constitute a
nuisance and may be abated by Butler Township by either seeking appropriate
equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.
[Amended 6-1-2009 by Ord.
No. 841]
No application for a permit shall be approved,
and retaining tanks shall not be permitted, except as follows:
A.
In those areas of Butler Township which are within
areas for which application for public sewers has been made by the
Butler Area Sewer Authority to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP), and such public sewers have not
yet been approved by DEP or, if approved, have not yet been installed;
or
B.
Are within areas where public sewers are available;
but, as a result of existing conditions, the Butler Area Sewer Authority
is unable to accept the sewage generated from the improved property
at all times and the retaining tanks are necessary to control the
discharge of sewers to the Butler Area Sewer Authority collection
and treatment system; or
C.
The retaining
tank is a composting toilet and is to be installed within a public
or private park that is not serviced by the Butler Area Sewer Authority
collection and treatment system and cannot be so serviced except at
an unreasonable expense.
[Amended 6-1-2009 by Ord.
No. 841]
Retaining tanks may only be used:
A.
For a period of 18 months after the date of the issuance;
or
B.
For a period of 18 months after notice from the Butler
Area Sewer Authority that the conditions preventing continual acceptance
of sewage have been corrected; or
C.
In the
case of composting toilets, so long as the area is not serviced by
the Butler Area Sewer Authority collection and treatment system.
