In expansion of the statement of community development objectives found in Article I, § 275-3 of this chapter, it is the intent of this article to provide regulations for the processing, treatment, storage, and disposal of solid waste in the Township. In addition, it is the intent of this article:
A.
To encourage resource recovery, co-generation of energy, and recycling
as a means of managing solid waste.
B.
To protect the public health, safety and welfare from the impacts
of transporting, processing, treating, storing, and disposing of solid
waste and recyclable materials by establishing reasonable and adequate
performance standards for facilities permitted by this chapter.
C.
To provide standards and criteria governing the location and operation
of solid waste disposal facilities and recycling facilities where
they are specified as permitted uses in zoning districts.
In addition to terms defined in Article VII of this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the specified meanings in this chapter:
Land affected during the lifetime of operations, including
areas where disposal, storage, transfer, processing or composting
actually occurs, support facilities, borrow areas, offices, equipment
sheds, air and water pollution control and treatment systems, access
roads, associated on-site or contiguous collection, transportation
and storage facilities, closure and postclosure care and maintenance
activities and other activities in which the natural land surface
has been disturbed as a result of or incidental to the operation of
the facility.
For the purposes of this article, the terms "applicant" and
"operator" shall be synonymous and shall mean those individuals, authorities,
private firms, or others who are responsible for making application(s)
to the Board of Supervisors and for operating the solid waste disposal
facilities.
A recycling facility for the collection, sorting, and short-term
storage of source-separated recyclable materials that handles less
than 250 tons per year of those materials.
The process by which organic solid waste is biologically
decomposed under controlled anaerobic or aerobic conditions to yield
a humus-like product.
A facility using land for processing of municipal waste by
composting. The term includes "affected lands," as defined herein.
The term does not include a facility for composting residential municipal
waste that is located at the site where the waste was generated.
The deposition, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or
placing of solid waste into or on the land or water in a manner that
the solid waste or a constituent of the solid waste enters the environment,
is emitted into the air, or is discharged to the waters of the commonwealth.
A composting facility other than a leaf composting facility.
An enclosed device using controlled combustion for the primary
purpose of thermally breaking down solid waste.
A facility for the assembly, sorting and/or and short-term
storage of more than 250 tons per year of source-separated recyclable
materials and any amount of salvaged material, generally in preparation
for transfer to a materials processing center or primary user of those
materials. Includes junkyard.
A facility for composting vegetative material, including
leaves, garden residue, and clipped shrubbery and tree trimmings.
The term does not include a facility that is used entirely or partly
for composting grass clippings.
An industrial operation that converts recyclable materials
into a form suitable for use as a raw material.
Any facility that is designed, operated, or maintained for
the disposal of municipal waste, whether or not such facility possesses
a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection under the
Solid Waste Management Act.[1] The term includes "affected lands," as defined herein.
The term shall not include any facility that is used exclusively for
disposal of construction/demolition waste or sludge from sewage treatment
plants or water supply treatment plants.
A person or persons engaged in solid waste processing or
disposal.
Any technology used for the purpose of reducing the volume
or bulk of municipal or residual waste or any technology used to convert
part or all of such waste materials for off-site reuse. Processing
facilities include, but are not limited to, transfer facilities, composing
facilities, and resource recovery facilities.
The collection, separation, recovery, and sale or reuse of
metals, glass, paper, leaf waste, plastics and other materials which
would otherwise be disposed or processed as municipal waste, or the
mechanized separation and treatment of municipal waste (other than
through combustion) and creation and recovery of reusable materials
other than a fuel for the operation of energy.
A facility employing a technology that is a process that
separates or classifies municipal waste and creates or recovers reusable
materials that can be sold to or reused by a manufacturer as a substitute
or supplement to virgin raw materials. The term includes affected
lands, as defined herein. The term shall not mean transfer stations
or landfills for solid waste nor composting facilities or resource
recovery facilities.
A processing facility that provides for the extraction and
utilization of materials or energy from municipal waste that is generated
off site, including a facility that mechanically attracts materials
from municipal waste, a combustion facility that converts the organic
fraction of municipal waste to usable energy, and any chemical and
biological process that converts municipal waste into a fuel product.
The term includes any facility for the combustion of municipal waste
that is generated off site, whether or not the facility is operated
to recover energy. The term includes affected lands, as defined herein.
The term does not include:
The controlled removal or recycling of material from a solid
waste processing or disposal facility.
The Act of July 7, 1980 (P.L. 380, No. 97), as amended.[2]
Materials that are separated from municipal waste at the
point of origin for the purpose of recycling.
A facility which receives and temporarily stores solid waste
at a location other than the generation site, and which facilitates
the bulk transfer of accumulated solid waste to a facility for further
processing or disposal. The term includes affected lands, as defined
herein. The term does not include portable storage containers used
for the collection of municipal waste.
A material whose original purpose has been completed and
which is directed to a disposal or processing facility or is otherwise
disposed. This term does not include source-separated recyclable materials.
Waste is further classified as follows, in accordance with Act 101,
the Solid Waste Management Act:
AGRICULTURAL WASTEPoultry and livestock manure, or residual materials in liquid or solid form generated in the production and marketing of poultry, livestock, fur-bearing animals, and their products, if the agricultural waste is not hazardous. The term includes the residual materials generated in producing, harvesting and marketing of agronomic, horticultural and silvicultural crops or commodities grown on the premises of a farm operation.
CONSTRUCTION/DEMOLITION WASTESolid waste resulting from the construction or demolition of buildings and other structures, including wood, plaster, metals, asphaltic substances, bricks, block and unsegregated concrete. The term also includes dredging waste. The term does not include clean fill separated from other waste.
CLEAN FILLUncontaminated, non-water-soluable, nondecomposable inert solid material used to level an area or bring the area to grade. Includes uncontaminated soil, rock, gravel, brick, block, and concrete, as well as waste from clearing, grubbing and excavation, excluding trees, brush, stumps, and vegetative material.
Municipal or agricultural waste which because of its quantity,
concentration, physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may:
Cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality
or an increase in morbidity in either an individual or the total population;
or
Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health
or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed
of, or otherwise managed.
The term does not include point sources subject to permits under
Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended,
or source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the
U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.
MUNICIPAL WASTEGarbage, refuse, industrial lunchroom or office waste, or other material resulting from operation of residential, municipal, commercial or institutional establishments and from community activities; and sludge not meeting the definitions of residual or hazardous waste from a municipal, commercial or institutional water supply treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant, or air pollution control facility.
RESIDUAL WASTEGarbage, refuse, or other discarded material or waste including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous materials resulting from industrial, mining, and agricultural operations and sludge from an industrial, mining, or agricultural water supply treatment facility, wastewater treatment facility, or air pollution control facility, provided that it is not hazardous.
SOLID WASTEWaste including municipal, residual, or hazardous wastes.
The following types of solid waste disposal and recycling facilities,
as defined herein, may be operated in the zoning districts where they
are specified as permitted uses, special exception uses or conditional
uses:
A.
Solid waste disposal facilities, including incinerators, composting
facilities, resource recovery facilities, salvage operations, and
transfer facilities, provided:
(1)
Prior to the onset of operation of a solid waste disposal facility
or expansion thereof, a permit must be obtained by the applicant from
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for the operation.
(2)
Regardless of ownership and management of the solid waste disposal
facility, the Board of Supervisors and/or its authorized representatives
shall, from time to time, be permitted to inspect the landfill site
and operation to assure continued compliance with this article, with
the expenses of inspection to be borne by the facility operator.
(3)
The Board of Supervisors reserves the right to assure proper
operation of any and all solid waste disposal facilities in the Township,
including the rights to:
(a)
Buy and/or lease land for these purposes.
(b)
Choose operators such as Township employees or authorities,
or by contracting with private firms, or other legitimate means.
(c)
Enter into agreements with adjoining communities to handle their
municipal waste.
(d)
Buy and/or lease equipment or contract with private firms who
will provide, operate, and maintain equipment for these purposes.
B.
Recycling facilities, including community dropoff centers, intermediate
processing centers and junkyards, and material processing centers.
In addition to complying with the regulations of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,
and other applicable federal and state regulations, the following
performance standards shall apply to solid waste and recycling facilities:
A.
The use shall not:
(1)
Constitute a nuisance or damage to health or any property by
reason of dissemination of noxious, toxic or corrosive fumes, smoke,
odor, debris, or dust in the immediately surrounding area or beyond
the district boundary line.
(2)
Result in noise or vibration clearly exceeding the average intensity
of noise or vibration occurring from other causes, measured at the
property line.
(3)
Endanger surrounding areas by reason of radiation, fire, or
explosion.
(4)
Discharge any untreated or incompletely treated waste into any
stream; or otherwise cause or contribute to the pollution of surface
or underground waters.
(5)
Endanger the underground water level or supply for other properties.
(6)
Create an objectionable traffic condition on the highways or
in an adjacent area; or generate a nuisance to surrounding property
by reason of traffic.
(7)
Create any objectionable condition in an adjoining area which
will endanger public health and safety or be detrimental to the environmental
quality of the surrounding area.
(8)
Include a municipal waste landfill unless it is a part of a
solid waste disposal facility owned and operated by Marlborough Township
or its agent, and is used only as an accessory to dispose of ash,
residues, reject material, and other bypassed solid wastes as generated
by a resource recovery and/or incineration facility.
(9)
Dispose of any solid waste other than municipal waste, as defined
herein, and the ash, residue, reject material, and other material
generated from municipal waste.
B.
Vehicular access for solid waste facilities:
(1)
Any public road used to provide direct access to a disposal
operation for routine, daily use shall be paved and maintained in
good condition, in compliance with the standards of the Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation, for the types of heavy trucking which
are necessary for operation.
(2)
The Board of Supervisors may designate safe and adequate access
routes and prohibit the use of other roads, except for local trash
pickup purposes.
(3)
The minimum paved cartway for access roads shall be 26 feet,
with four-foot wide improved shoulders on both sides.
(4)
The access driveway into the disposal facility shall be of sufficient
length that stopped disposal vehicles entering the facility are not
stopped along the public road outside the facility.
(5)
The costs of upgrading and maintaining major access roads to
the disposal operation shall be paid for by the disposal operation
in a means suitable to the supervisors. Assessments and/or dumping
fees are examples of suitable methods.
C.
Security. The site shall be fenced and served by lockable gates for
security purposes. Scavenging shall not be permitted. In addition,
appropriate precautions shall be taken to prevent trash from being
scattered on the site by wind or other means. Fencing, walls, and
other enclosures may be required for this purpose. Any scattered litter
shall be collected daily and be properly disposed.
D.
Grading. The disposal operation site shall be graded and provided
with appropriate drainage facilities to minimize runoff, prevent erosion,
and prevent collection of standing water, except in basins designed
for that purpose.
E.
Screening.
(1)
A solid waste disposal facility site, including all improvements
thereon, shall be screened from view from adjoining residential or
institutional uses or districts by a buffer zone of a minimum 200
feet between said site and improvements, and any adjoining property
in which shall be placed a planting screen consisting of a variety
of evergreen trees in a solid double row with a minimum height of
nine feet so as to create a visual screening of said site and improvements
from all adjoining real property, and shade trees, two-inch caliper
by a minimum height of eight feet, informally arranged, in a number
equivalent to one tree per 50 linear feet of buffer.
(2)
Materials collected, stored or processed at a recycling facility
shall be screened from view from adjacent roads or properties by complete
enclosure in a building, opaque screening by solid fencing, walls
or dense vegetation, or by location on a site such that the operation
is not visible or is screened by existing vegetation on the site.
F.
Elevation. The highest elevation of the accessory landfill shall
never exceed 35 feet above the highest point of natural elevation
within the landfill area of the site before the disposal operation
began. Final grading of the landfill area shall be done in a manner
which leaves the site potentially useful. New landscaping shall be
planted to protect against erosion and improve the appearance of the
land after final grading.
G.
Equipment housing. Equipment not in use shall be housed in on-site
buildings.
H.
Firesafety. All buildings shall be equipped with fire and smoke detection
and extinguishing facilities in compliance with the regulations of
the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, the National Fire
Protection Association, and/or other more stringent regulations, if
determined appropriate by the Board of Supervisors.
I.
Scales. An on-site scale shall be used to weigh all solid waste delivered
to a site and accurate and complete records shall be maintained by
the operator, and which records shall be available for inspection
by the Board of Supervisors upon request.
J.
Availability of records. A certified copy of all reports, data, plans
and other material or information required to be submitted to the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection shall also be
submitted to the Board of Supervisors.
K.
Tire cleaning. A tire-cleaning area shall be provided on the access
road within a solid waste disposal site. All tires on all trucks leaving
the disposal site shall be cleaned. Runoff from the tire-cleaning
area shall be controlled in accordance with the provisions of the
Pennsylvania stormwater management regulations.
L.
Equipment cleaning. An equipment cleaning area shall be provided
on the site. All equipment used in the disposal operation shall be
cleaned daily to prevent odors and other nuisances or health hazards.
All drainage from equipment cleaning areas shall be managed so as
to prevent water pollution, and shall be discharged to a sanitary
sewer system or other facilities approved by the Board of Supervisors.
M.
Groundwater monitoring. At the site of a solid waste disposal facility,
groundwater monitoring wells shall be required and shall be located
both along the interior boundary lines of the buffer zone and outside
the boundary lines of the site as determined by the PADEP. Copies
of PADEP monitoring reports shall be promptly provided to the Board
of Supervisors. Any unsafe conditions shall be reported immediately
to the Board of Supervisors.
N.
Emergency systems. All solid waste disposal facilities, equipment
and personnel shall be equipped with both an internal communications
or alarm system capable of providing immediate emergency instruction
(voice or signal) to facility personnel, and a device immediately
available at the scene of operations, such as a telephone or a handheld
two-way radio, capable of summoning emergency assistance from local
police and fire departments.
O.
Emergency access. A solid waste disposal facility site shall have
at least one emergency access entrance, which shall be locked except
when used during an emergency situation. The operator shall provide
a key to this entrance to the Board of Supervisors.
P.
Sanitary toilet facilities, as approved by the Board of Supervisors,
shall be constructed and made available for use by persons on the
site.
Q.
The applicant shall demonstrate to the Board of Supervisors that:
R.
In order to determine that adequate safeguards are provided, the
Board of Supervisors may require that:
(1)
The applicant submit necessary information, impartial expert
judgments and written assurances.
(2)
The applicant obtain the advice of appropriate local, state
and federal agencies and of private consultants.
(3)
The applicant's proposed use(s) comply with such tests or provide
such safeguards in addition to those listed herein as deemed necessary
by the Supervisors, upon the advice of the Township Engineer.
In addition to complying with the standards of this article and of § 275-60 herein, applications for a conditional use for solid waste disposal facilities shall provide the information, comply with the requirements, and be evaluated by the Board of Supervisors in accordance with the standards, criteria, requirements, and regulations of this section.
A.
Plan conformance. The applicant shall provide a statement identifying
the relationship of the proposed use to land use plans, policies,
and controls for the affected area, including a statement as to how
the proposed use may conform or conflict with the objectives and specific
terms of existing or proposed federal, state, county and Township
land use and/or solid waste plans, policies and controls, including
a statement of the following:
B.
Separation. No land shall be actively used for solid waste disposal
within 300 feet of an existing residence or within 1/4 mile of an
existing school or institutional zoning district. Inactive buffer
and/or landscaped areas of the waste disposal site may be counted
toward the total separation.
C.
Traffic. The existing public road system must be able to accommodate the traffic generated by the use in a safe and efficient manner. Existing residential areas shall not be infringed upon by traffic from the proposed facility. In order to fully evaluate this, the Board of Supervisors may request a traffic impact statement in accordance with the provisions of § 275-72.
(1)
The study must demonstrate that the proposed use will not adversely
affect surrounding areas of traffic circulation generally in the Township;
or else identify any traffic problems that might be caused or aggravated
by the proposed use and delineate solutions to those problems. Based
upon the findings of the study, the Board of Supervisors may require
other improvements both on site and off site which would alleviate
hazardous or congested situations directly attributable to the proposed
development as a condition of approval.
(2)
The traffic impact study shall be prepared for a study area
extending a minimum of one mile on all abutting roads from the entrance
of the proposed disposal facility. This area may be modified at the
discretion of the Board of Supervisors.
An application for a conditional use for solid waste disposal
facilities shall contain the date, information, and drawings specified
herein.
A.
A topographical drawing, prepared by a professional engineer registered
in the State of Pennsylvania, to a scale no greater than one inch
equals 100 feet, showing:
(1)
Location of site relative to public roads.
(2)
Owners of adjacent properties.
(3)
Proposed fencing and improvements.
(4)
Proposed screening and buffering.
(5)
Cross-sections showing the existing grades and the proposed
grades upon completion and closure of the accessory landfill, if any.
(6)
Accessory landfill area within the site, to include staging
of landfill development and the location of haul roads and access
roads.
(7)
Location of equipment cleaning and tire cleaning areas.
(8)
Location of weighing scales, firefighting equipment and all
facilities, including buildings.
B.
The names and current addresses of any and all persons who own any
interest, real or equitable, in the real estate which is the subject
of the application.
C.
The names and current addresses of any and all persons having any
ownership interest in the operation or proposed operation, maintenance
and use of the equipment or real estate in question.
E.
The identities and qualifications of personnel designated to manage
and operate the proposed facility, together with their intended responsibilities.
F.
All requirements of the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act[1] and regulations and standards of the Department of Environmental
Protection relating to solid waste processing and disposal system
are incorporated herein by reference, as well as any and all plans,
applications, data, materials, studies and information to the Board
of Supervisors as is required to be submitted to the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to said Act, regulations
and standards. All such materials shall be certified by the applicant
to be true and correct copies of original materials filed with that
Department.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq.
G.
Statements indicating expected useful life of the accessory landfill
site and the condition and proposed uses of said site upon termination
of operation, including, but not limited to, any limitations on future
uses due to decomposition gases.
H.
An access road survey, which shall include the following:
The following standards shall apply to all solid waste disposal
facilities and recycling facilities:
A.
For solid waste disposal facilities:
(1)
Minimum tract size and width, exclusive of existing rights-of-way
of public roads: 10 acres with a minimum width of 750 feet.
(2)
Building setback from ultimate right-of-way, any zoning district
boundary, and any property boundary: 250 feet.
(3)
Side or rear setback for an accessory building not associated
with the operation of the solid waste facility: 100 feet.
B.
For recycling facilities: lot size and width and building setbacks
in conformance with the requirements of the zoning district that permits
the use.
