[Adopted 11-10-2003 by Ord. No. 2-2003]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Borough
of Summit Hill Sewage Sludge Safety Ordinance."
This article is enacted pursuant to the authority granted to
the Borough of Summit Hill (hereinafter referred to as "Borough")
by all relevant federal and state laws and their corresponding regulations,
including, without limitation, the following:
A.
The provisions of the Borough, as codified in 53 P.S. Chapter 91, Article I,[1] which authorizes the Borough to provide for the protection
and preservation of natural and human resources, to promote, protect,
and facilitate public health, safety and general welfare, and to preserve
and protect farmland, woodland and the recreational uses of land within
the Borough.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 8 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq.
B.
The provisions of the Borough as codified in 53 P.S. Chapter 91, Article XII,[2] which authorizes the Borough to enact ordinances concerning
the protection of the Borough residents' health, the regulation of
refuse material and nuisances and the promotion of public safety.
[2]
Editor's Note: See now 8 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq.
D.
Solid Waste Management Act, 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq.,
which expressly preserves the rights and remedies of townships concerning
solid waste within their borders;
E.
Municipal Waste Regulations, 25 Pa. Code §§ 271, 275,
287 and 291 et seq.;
F.
Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act, 35 P.S. § 4001
et seq.;
G.
Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 7416 and 7431;
H.
Safe Drinking Water Act, 35 P.S. § 721.1 et seq.;
I.
Right-to-Know Act, 42 U.S.C. § 11001 et seq., 35 P.S. § 7301
et seq.;
J.
Nutrient Management and Odor Management Act, 3 Pa.C.S.A. § 501
et seq.;
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
K.
Land Application of Sewage Sludge, 40 CFR Part 503; and
L.
General Pretreatment Regulations for Existing and New Sources of
Pollution, 40 CFR Part 403.
In support of enactment of this article, the Borough Council
of Summit Hill finds and declares:
A.
That the land application of sewage sludge in the Borough of Summit
Hill poses a significant threat to the health, safety and welfare
of the citizens and the environment of the Borough of Summit Hill
if the levels of heavy metals, pathogens, chemicals, radioactive material,
vector attractants, or other pollutants in the sewage sludge exceed
the levels determined to be safe by the Pennsylvania Department of
Environment Protection ("DEP");
B.
That under current law, the Borough of Summit Hill is powerless to
prohibit the land application of sewage sludge that complies with
all applicable laws and regulations;
C.
That in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents
of the Borough of Summit Hill, the soil, groundwater and surface water,
the environment and its flora and fauna, and the practice of sustainable
agriculture, it is necessary to register each sewage sludge site and
land applicant operating in the Borough of Summit Hill and to test
each truckload of sewage sludge that is applied within the Borough
to determine if certain specified metals, chemicals, pathogens, radioactive
material, vector attractants, and other pollutants are present, to
determine the levels of said pollutants and to determine whether those
levels exceed the levels allowed under applicable laws and regulations;
D.
That DEP does not possess sufficient personnel to ensure that persons
land applying sewage sludge in the Borough of Summit Hill are doing
so in compliance with federal and state laws and regulations, and
so the Borough of Summit Hill must enforce such compliance by methods
consistent with federal and state laws and regulations concerning
land application of sewage sludge, including requiring site registration,
land applicant registration, and sewage sludge testing prior to land
application of sewage sludge in the Borough of Summit Hill;
E.
That a testing fee of $38 per ton of sewage sludge is necessary to
cover the cost of testing each truckload of sewage sludge to be land
applied in the Borough of Summit Hill, which fee has been determined
as follows: the Borough of Summit Hill provided four laboratories
with a list of the tests required and received price quotations from
each laboratory. The average of the four quotations was $653 per truckload.
None of the laboratories could provide radiological analysis, which
can be provided by DEP at a cost of approximately $130 per truckload.
The total cost of testing thus is $783 per truckload. In addition
the Borough of Summit Hill will have to provide an employee or agent
to take samples for each truckload. The Borough of Summit Hill has
thus concluded that the sum of $863 per test is a reasonable estimate
of the Borough of Summit Hill cost to test each truckload. The trucks
delivering sewage sludge carry an average of 23 tons of sludge, which
results in a total cost of $37.52 per ton, which, together with administrative
costs, justifies a total testing fee of $38 per ton of sewage sludge;
and
F.
That the Borough of Summit Hill's cost of testing sewage sludge should
be borne by those persons land applying sewage sludge in the Borough
of Summit Hill.
Anyone interpreting, implementing, or applying this article shall give priority to the findings and purposes stated in § 415-14 over such consideration as economy, efficiency and scheduling factors.
The following terms shall have the meanings defined in this
section wherever they are used in this article.
An application is administratively complete if it contains
the necessary analyses, fees, documents, and information, regardless
of whether the analyses, fees, documents and information would be
sufficient for the issuance of the permit of the determination of
applicability. 25 Pa. Code Chapter 271, Subchapter I, § 271.822.
Any person responsible for complying with all federal, state
and local laws and regulations concerning the land application of
sewage sludge.
Use or reuse of residual waste or material derived from residual
waste for commercial, industrial or governmental purposes where the
use or reuse does not harm or threaten public health, safety, welfare,
or the environment, or the reuse of processed municipal waste for
any purposes where the use or reuse does not harm or threaten public
health, safety, welfare or the environment. 25 Pa. Code Chapter 271,
Subchapter A, § 271.1.
The Borough of Summit Hill in Carbon County, Pennsylvania,
its Borough Council, or its representatives or agents.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
The granting, denial, suspension, revocation, or reissuance
of a site registration or land application registration, any truckload
acceptance or rejection, and the issuance, failure to issue, or revocation
of a notice of violation, compliance order, injunction, cease and
desist order, or any other order.
A facility that is certified by DEP to test sewage sludge
samples for metals, chemicals, pathogens, radioactivity, vector attractants,
and other pollutants for compliance with all applicable laws and regulations
prior to the land application of the sewage sludge.
The spraying or spreading of sewage sludge onto the land
surface for beneficial use, the injection of sewage sludge below the
land surface for beneficial use; or the incorporation of sewage sludge
into the soil for beneficial use of that the sewage sludge can either
condition the soil or fertilize crops for vegetation grown in the
soil. 25 Pa. Code Chapter 271, Subchapter J, § 271.907.
The Borough of Summit Hill Sewage Sludge Ordinance, as amended.
Organisms that cause disease, including, without limitation,
certain bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and viable helminth ova.
The are of land and water within the boundaries of any DEP
permit that is designated on the permit application maps as approved
by DEP.
Any natural person, company, corporation, business, contractor,
joint venture, trust, trustee; court appointed representative, syndicate,
association, partnership, firm, club, institution, cooperative enterprise,
or agency; any government corporation, municipal corporation, city,
county, municipality, district, or other political subdivision, department,
bureau, agency, or instrumentality of federal, state or local government;
any other entity recognized by law as law subject of rights and duties;
and any officer, agent, employee, independent contractor, or representative
of any kind of any of the aforementioned persons.
An organic substance, inorganic substance, a combination
of organic substances, a pathogenic organism, or any other substance
identified by DEP that, after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion,
inhalation, or assimilation into an organism either directly from
the environment or indirectly from ingestion through the food chain,
could, on the basis of information available to DEP, cause death,
disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological
malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction), or physical
deformation in either organisms or offspring of organisms. 25 Pa.
Code Chapter 271, Subchapter J, § 271.907.
A person subject to the National Pretreatment Standards under 40 CFR Chapter 1, Part 403, as amended.
Liquid or solid sludge and other residue from a municipal
sewage collection and treatment system, and liquid or solid sludge
and other residue from septic and holding tank pumping from commercial,
industrial, or residential establishments. The term includes material
derived from sewage sludge. The term does not include ash generated
during the firing of sewage sludge in a sewage sludge incinerator,
grit and screenings generated during preliminary treatment of sewage
collection and treatment system, or grit, screenings, or inorganic
objects from septic and holding tank pumping. 25 Pa. Code Chapter
271, Subchapter A, § 271.1.
A surveyed area of land used or to be used for the land application
of sewage sludge.
Any person responsible for registering or obtaining a permit
for a sewage sludge site under applicable federal, state, and local
laws and regulations.
The wastewater treatment facility or other facility that
produces the sewage sludge to be land applied.
A person substantially owns or controls another person if he has the ability to evade the intent of § 415-22F of this article by using that person to land apply sewage sludge, operate a sewage sludge site, or prepare sewage sludge for disposal in the Borough of Summit Hill.
The characteristic of sewage sludge that attracts rodents,
flies, mosquitoes, or other organisms capable of transporting infectious
agents.
It shall be unlawful for any person to land apply sewage sludge
in the Borough of Summit Hill unless:
A.
The sewage sludge site has a valid permit as may be required by DEP
or any agency under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and
the United States of America; and
B.
The sewage sludge site has a valid site registration issued by the Borough of Summit Hill under § 415-18 of this article; and
C.
The sewage sludge applicant holds a valid permit as may be required
by DEP or any other agency under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and the United States of America; and
D.
The sewage sludge applicant holds a valid land application registration issued by the Borough of Summit Hill under § 415-19 of this article; and
E.
The site registration applicant and sewage sludge applicant comply
with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations
concerning the land application of sewage sludge, including, without
limitation, 40 CFR Chapter 503, 25 Pa. Code Chapters 271, 275, 287
and 291 and this and other Borough ordinances, all as amended.
Before any person may land apply sewage sludge on a site in the Borough of Summit Hill, the site must receive a site registration from the Borough of Summit Hill Site registration issued by the Borough of Summit Hill shall be valid for a period concurrent with the analogous DEP permit. The Borough of Summit Hill shall issue or deny the site registration within the later of 24 hours after receiving the results of any background tests conducted pursuant to § 415-21A; or 30 days after the site registration applicant complies with this section, under which the site registration applicant must do the following:
A.
Complete and submit a written application in such form and number
as reasonably required by the Borough of Summit Hill. Such application
shall identify the name and address of the site registration applicant
and be accompanied by an application map as required by DEP, showing
the location and necessary narrative descriptions for lands and data,
including, without limitation: boundaries and names of present owners
of record of land, both surface and subsurface, for the DEP permit
area, including easements, rights-of-way, and any other property interests;
and boundaries in which sewage sludge will be applied, including identification
of all setbacks as required by federal and state regulations.
B.
Provide the Borough of Summit Hill with a copy of all materials provided
to DEP for approval of the site for sewage sludge application, including,
without limitation, soil, groundwater, and surface water information
and background analyses, an erosion control plan, and a copy of the
consent of the landowner of the site on which sewage sludge is to
be land applied.
C.
Provide the Borough of Summit Hill with the most recent pretreatment
annual report of the wastewater treatment facility producing the sewage
sludge to be land applied at the site, including, without limitation,
a list of significant users that have received written notices of
violation at the wastewater treatment facility, the number of such
of notices issued to each significant user during the reporting period,
and a list of significant industrial users of the wastewater treatment
facility that are required to be permitted by EPA. Before the Borough
of Summit Hill issues a site registration, the site registration applicant
shall be required to have instituted an enforcement procedure for
pretreatment violations at the wastewater treatment facility producing
the sewage sludge to be land-applied at the site.
D.
Pay the Borough of Summit Hill a nonrefundable administrative fee
sufficient to cover all Borough expenses reasonable incurred to process
the site registration application. The Borough of Summit Hill shall
set this fee by resolution and may adjust it by resolution as necessary.
E.
Certify by letter that it has complied with all applicable federal,
state, and local laws and regulations concerning the land application
of sewage sludge, including, without limitation, 40 CFR Chapter 503,
25 Pa. Code Chapters 271, 275, 287, and 291 and this and other Borough
ordinances, all as amended.
Before any person may land apply sewage sludge on a site in the Borough of Summit Hill, the sewage sludge applicant must receive a land application registration from the Borough of Summit Hill. Land application registrations issued by the Borough of Summit Hill shall be valid for a period concurrent with the analogous DEP permit. The Borough of Summit Hill shall issue or deny the land application registration within the later of 24 hours after receiving the results of a sewage sludge test conducted pursuant to § 415-21, or 30 days after the land application registration is administratively complete. To apply for a land application registration, the sewage sludge applicant must do the following:
A.
Complete and submit a written application to the Borough of Summit
Hill in such form and number as reasonably required by the Borough
of Summit Hill. The submitted application must be administratively
complete not less than 45 days prior to the date on which the land
application of sewage sludge is to begin. The application shall inform
the Borough of Summit Hill of the name and address of the person applying
for the land application registration; the source of the sewage sludge
to be applied to the site, with each land application registration
restricted to sewage sludge from a single source; a current, certified
list of the names and addresses of all pretreatment users of the sewage
sludge source; a copy of the required priority pollutant scan, if
any; the name and address of the person holding the current, valid
Borough of Summit Hill site registration for the land application;
a description of the route to be used by vehicles hauling sewage sludge
from the source to the site; a schedule of the date(s) and time(s)
when the land application of sewage sludge will occur; copies of all
laboratory analyses conducted on the sewage sludge from the source
within the prior 12 months; an application map showing the area in
which sewage sludge will be land applied and the location of markers
that will be posed to warn passersby of the land application of sewage
sludge; a letter from the sewage sludge applicant, certifying that
it has complied with all applicable federal, state, and local laws
and regulations concerning the land application of sewage sludge,
including, without limitation, 40 CFR Chapter 503, 25 Pa. Code Chapters
271, 275, 287, and 291, and this and other Borough ordinances, all
as amended; and a copy of the requisite DEP permit for land application
of sewage sludge.
B.
Pay the Borough of Summit Hill a nonrefundable administrative fee
sufficient to cover all Borough expenses reasonably incurred to process
the land application registration. The Borough of Summit Hill shall
set this fee by resolution and may adjust it by resolution as necessary.
Any person land applying sewage sludge in the Borough of Summit
Hill shall do the following:
A.
Comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations
concerning the land application of sewage sludge, including, without
limitation, 40 CFR Chapter 503, 25 Pa. Code Chapters 271, 275, 287
and 291 and this and other Borough ordinances, all as amended.
B.
Pay the Borough of Summit Hill a testing fee of $38 per ton of sewage sludge to be land applied. Prior to land application of each truckload of sewage sludge, the Borough of Summit Hill shall test the sewage sludge pursuant to its authority under § 415-21 of this article. No person shall land apply sludge from any truckload until the Borough of Summit Hill approves the land application after it receives the results of such tests, which tests the Borough of Summit Hill will process through a qualified laboratory as expeditiously as possible. The Borough of Summit Hill may reject land application of any truckload when test results of the sewage sludge indicate that the land application will violate § 415-17D of this article.
C.
Inform the Borough of Summit Hill of any discharges, upsets, spills,
slug loadings, or any other violations of which the sewage sludge
source is aware by operation of 40 CFR 403.8, 403.12 and 403.16, as
amended.
D.
Upon changing the scheduled date(s) and time(s) for land application,
notify the Borough of Summit Hill of the changes at least 12 hours
prior to the new date(s) and time(s).
E.
On the day land application begins, notify the Borough of Summit
Hill by telephone (570-645-2305) and fax (570-645-9449) prior to commencing
land application and give the Borough the opportunity to attend the
land application to monitor compliance with this article.
A.
After receiving an administratively complete site registration application
or land application registration, the Borough of Summit Hill may inspect
the site to determine whether the site registration applicant has
complied with this article; test the background or accumulated levels
of chemicals, metals, pathogens, radioactive material, and other pollutants
in the soil, groundwater, or surface water at the sewage sludge site;
and/or test the sewage sludge to be applied by collecting and sending
samples to a qualified laboratory to ensure that the land application
will comply with federal and state pollutant, pathogen, pH, vector
attraction reduction, and other applicable regulations. The person
who inspects the site on behalf of the Borough of Summit Hill may
be accompanied by representatives of the site registration or land
application registration if the results of any test or inspection
reveal that the land application will violate any federal, state,
or local laws or regulations concerning the land application of sewage
sludge.
B.
The Borough of Summit Hill may inspect the land application of sewage
sludge without notice or a search warrant to monitor compliance with
this article. The Borough of Summit Hill will contact DEP in advance
of any inspection so that DEP may accompany the Borough at the inspection.
At an inspection, the Borough of Summit Hill may collect samples of
sewage sludge to be tested by a qualified laboratory to monitor compliance
with federal and state pollutant, pathogen, pH, vector attraction
reduction, and other applicable regulations. If the Borough of Summit
Hill determines that this article is being violated and is unable
to secure compliance on site, the land application of sewage sludge
shall be enjoined and the land application registration shall be suspended
until violations are corrected.
C.
After the land application of sewage sludge, the Borough of Summit
Hill may inspect the site to monitor compliance with this article,
including, without limitation, to determine whether the sewage sludge
was properly applied, whether all DEP permit requirements have been
achieved, and whether there is compliance with food and feed crop
restrictions under all applicable laws.
D.
Prior to conducting any inspection under this article, the person
conducting the inspection on behalf of the Borough of Summit Hill
shall present his Borough credentials to the owner or occupier of
the site unless this requirement would wholly or partially frustrate
the inspection.
A.
Whenever the Borough of Summit Hill determines that there has been
a violation of this article, the Borough shall give notice to the
person alleged to have violated the ordinance. Such notice shall be
in writing; include a statement of the alleged violation(s); be served
upon the person alleged to be in violation of the article or his agent
as required by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; contain
a compliance order that explains the remedial action that, if taken,
will effect compliance with the article; and provide the alleged violator
with five days to take the prescribed remedial action to cure his
violation(s).
B.
Upon failure of any person to comply with a notice of violation and
compliance order, the Borough of Summit Hill may suspend the applicable
site registration and/or land application registration with a cease
and desist order that terminates land application of sewage sludge
at the site at which the alleged violation(s) occurred.
C.
Any person adversely affected by final action by the Borough of Summit
Hill under this article may appeal such action only by filing such
appeal in the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County within 30 days
after the date of the action being appealed.
D.
In addition to the enforcement mechanisms available in § 415-21A through C of this article, any person who violates or permits a violation of this article shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. Upon judgment against any person by summary conviction, or by proceedings by summons on default of the payment of the fine or penalty imposed and the costs, the defendant may be sentenced and committed to the Borough correctional facility for a period not exceeding 10 days or to the county correctional facility for a period not exceeding 30 days. Each day that such violation exists shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement under this section, the Borough may enforce this chapter in equity in the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
E.
All fines collected for violation of this article shall be paid to
the Borough of Summit Hill.
F.
Any person who violates and/or is convicted of violating this article
two or more times shall be permanently prohibited from land applying
sewage sludge, operating a sewage sludge site, or preparing sewage
sludge to be land applied in the Borough of Summit Hill. This prohibition
applies to that person's parent, sister, and successor companies,
subsidiaries and alter egos, and to any person substantially owned
or controlled by the person (including its officers, directors, or
owners) that twice violates this article.
This article shall be administered by the Borough of Summit
Hill. In its administration, the Borough of Summit Hill shall review
and process all site registration applications and land application
registrations, set and collect all fees for said registrations, indefinitely
keep records of its discussions, findings, recommendations and actions
taken in administering this article.
This article shall be effective five days after the date of
its enactment. Any land application of sewage sludge that has begun
before the date this article is effective shall be completed in 30
days. All land applications that begin on or after the date this article
is effective shall comply with this article.
