[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Upper Southampton 12-18-2012 by Ord. No. 417.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance was originally adopted
as Ch. 109 but was renumbered to maintain the alphabetical organization
of the Code.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A man-made disaster, natural disaster, industrial accident,
fire or explosion that occurs within the Township.
The preparation for and the carrying out of functions, other
than functions for which military forces are primarily responsible,
to prevent, minimize and provide emergency repair of injury and damage
resulting from disasters, together with all other activities necessary
or incidental to the preparation and carrying out of those functions,
including, but not limited to, firefighting services, police services,
any other services provided by any emergency agency that may service
the Township such as rescue squads or other emergency management services,
disaster warning services, evacuation of persons from affected areas,
emergency housing services, emergency transportation, temporary restoration
of public utility services, cleaning and abatement of hazardous or
other dangerous materials, costs for services by the Township Solicitor
or the Township Engineer and any such other services provided by or
on behalf of the Township during such disasters.
Any incident, fire or explosion that occurs from the storage,
transportation, use or manufacturing of any substance potentially
dangerous and/or hazardous to the public health and welfare at large
that necessitates the Township to provide emergency services, including
the cleaning and abatement of such dangerous and/or hazardous materials.
Any chemical, industrial, commercial or transportation accident,
incident, fire, explosion, contamination, power failure, natural resource
shortage or other condition which threatens or causes substantial
property damage, human suffering and hardship or loss of life.
Any hurricane, tornado, flood, storm, high water, wind-driven
water, earthquake, mudslide, landslide, snowstorm, fire, explosion
or other catastrophe which results in substantial damage to property,
hardship, suffering or possible loss of life.
An individual, corporation, firm, association, public utility,
estate, public or private institution, group or any legal successor,
representative or agency of the foregoing. "Person" shall include
any contractor or agent authorized under the law to be on the property
owned, rented or possessed by another person.
County bridges, state highways, Township streets, county
roads, any navigable waterway or any other roadway or watercourse
owned either by a person or governmental unit.
The Township of Upper Southampton, County of Bucks, Pennsylvania.
A.
Any person on whose premises a disaster occurs as defined or any
contractor or authorized agent on another person's premises whose
actions or conduct causes a disaster on the premises (as the term
"disaster" is defined by this chapter) shall bear all costs which
exceed the costs of such emergency services normally required to be
provided by the Township and which are incurred by the Township as
a direct and consequential result of such disaster. If the costs incurred
by the Township are costs for any emergency services provided by the
Township for a disaster as a direct or consequential result of the
person's actions or activity(ies) that violate local, state or
federal rules, regulations or ordinances, or the careless and reckless
actions of the person that result in the disaster, the person who
owns or has control of the property, or the contractor or authorized
agent, shall bear all of the costs for the emergency services provided
by the Township. In the event that an industrial accident occurs during
transportation on a public thoroughfare or in delivery to a person
as defined above, the entity which owns or had custody or control
of the vehicle or substance involved in the industrial accident shall
bear all costs that exceed the costs of normal emergency services
required to be provided by the Township and which are incurred by
the Township as a direct or consequential result of such accident,
unless the industrial accident is the direct or consequential result
of the person's or entity's failure to comply with all local,
state or federal rules, regulations or ordinances or the careless
or reckless actions of the person or entity that result in the disaster,
at which time the Township shall be entitled to recover the costs
of all emergency services provided by the Township. The Township shall
further recover all costs as set forth under the federal statute known
as the "Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act" as such costs
are incurred for emergency services arising from an incident involving
hazardous materials. Nothing as contained in this section shall preclude
any person or entity from recovering any incurred or subsequent costs
from a third party whose negligence may have caused the disaster.
B.
In the event that any person undertakes, either voluntarily or upon order of the Township, to clean up or abate the effects of any disaster, the Township may take such action necessary to supervise or verify the accuracy of the cleanup or abatement. The person as described in § 80-2A above shall be responsible to pay the Township for all direct and consequential costs incurred by the Township for such supervision or verification.
C.
Costs incurred by the Township for services rendered as a result
of a disaster shall include, but are not limited to, such costs and
expenses incurred by police, fire and emergency medical services that
exceed the costs of such services normally provided by the Township,
actual labor costs of Township personnel, including benefits and administrative
costs, costs of consultants or others preparing reports or inspections
concerning the disaster, costs of equipment operations, costs of materials
obtained by the Township for services as a result of a disaster, costs
of any contractual labor and materials for cleanup and abatement,
costs of the Township Solicitor or Township Engineer for services
as a result of a disaster, and such other costs that the Township
may incur for services provided as a result of a disaster which exceed
the costs of usual and customary services to be provided by the Township
during an emergency.
D.
The costs for services rendered by the Township as a result of a
disaster shall be determined by the Township's Emergency Management
Coordinator, or his/her designee, and shall include such yearly increases
for services as based on the cost-of-living increases set forth by
normal industry standards and applicable collective bargaining agreements.
E.
All costs for services rendered by the Township as a result of a disaster shall be paid by the person as set forth in § 80-2A of this chapter and shall be paid directly to the Township through the Office of Emergency Management Department within 30 days from the date which the Township issues an invoice for such costs.
F.
Upon receipt of the costs, the Township shall distribute the funds
received by first paying for any contractual labor and materials obtained
by the Township and then distributing the remaining funds among the
Township's emergency service providers, such as the police, fire
companies, rescue squads and other Township emergency service providers
in the same proportion as services were provided. In the event of
a dispute regarding the allocation of funds received, any such disputes
shall be submitted to the Township Board of Supervisors for final
determination.
G.
To the extent that the Township must enforce this chapter for the
reimbursement of its costs and expenses, as otherwise set forth in
this section, the Township shall be entitled to reimbursement of all
its fees and costs expended for the enforcement action, whether by
civil suit, arbitration or otherwise, which fees and costs shall include
legal services fees, professional services fees, filing costs and
any other costs incurred by the Township for the pursuit, collection
of and enforcement of this chapter.
