[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 1; as amended by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
The following terms shall have the following meanings as used in this Part 3, including the background recitals, above:[1]
ACT
The Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act of 1980, as amended, 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq.
AUTHORITY
The Delaware County Solid Waste Authority.
COLLECTOR
Any person collecting or transporting municipal solid waste for owners or occupants of property in the Township, including the Township itself if it undertakes the collection of municipal solid waste directly, and any business or institution within the Township which generates municipal solid waste and uses its own employees and equipment for the collection and transport of the waste.
CONTRACTOR
One or more contractors with whom the County contracts for construction and operation of the proposed resource recovery plant or plants, or other Solid Waste Facilities
COUNTY
The County of Delaware, and as the context requires, may also mean the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority and/or its contractor.
COUNTY PLAN
The Delaware County Solid Waste Management Plan of 1985, which was reviewed by the DEP, revised, and is dated December 1986, as the same may be amended, revised, supplemented and replaced from time to time.
DEP
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
Any garbage, refuse, industrial lunchroom or office waste, and other material including solid or semisolid material generated in residential, municipal, commercial, or institutional establishments and from community activities, and other solid waste which is within the definition of “municipal solid waste” as set forth in the Act and which the county, Authority or contractor, by its ordinance or regulations, is willing to accept at the plant, but excluding:
(1) 
Any liquid waste or sludge;
(2) 
All wastes which are defined by existing or future federal or state law or regulations as hazardous waste or industrial residual waste;
(3) 
Any waste which may be marketable and which is intentionally segregated for purposes of recycling; and
(4) 
Materials specifically excluded under applicable county ordinances.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, association, corporation, or governmental entity, with the exception of the county, Authority, or designated contractor.
PLANT
The energy and/or material recovery facility or facilities, transfer station or solid waste plants owned by the county or Authority or the contractor, including all associated property and equipment.
SOLID WASTE FACILITY
Any site owned and operated by the county, the Authority, or its designated contractor for the purpose of transfer, processing or disposal of municipal solid waste, including landfills, resource recovery plants, and transfer stations.
TOWNSHIP
Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
[1]
Editor's Note: The background recitals provided as follows:
"WHEREAS, the Township finds it necessary to regulate the collection of municipal solid waste generated within its boundaries in order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of its taxpayers and residents; and
WHEREAS, Act No. 180 of July 12, 1972, 53 P.S. § 481 et seq., authorizes a municipality to enter into joint cooperation agreements with other municipalities in the exercise or in the performance of their respective governmental functions, powers or responsibilities; and
WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act of 1980 authorizes a municipality to require by ordinance that all municipal wastes generated within its jurisdiction shall be disposed of at a designated facility; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of the Act, the Delaware County Council has caused to be prepared the Delaware County Solid Waste Management Plan of 1985, which was reviewed by the DEP, revised, and is dated December 1986, as the same may be amended, revised, supplemented and replaced from time to time, which recommends that for the foreseeable future, the solid waste from the Township be disposed of by means of regional facilities authorized by the county; and
WHEREAS, the County Plan received preliminary approval from the DEP in February 1987, with final DEP approval conditioned upon the county obtaining such municipal adoptions of the County Plan as may be necessary for its implementation; and
WHEREAS, the County Plan concluded that a county-wide solid waste disposal system should include a resource recovery plant or plants located within the county as the most environmentally sound and cost-effective method of disposing of municipal solid waste within the county; and
WHEREAS, in order to obtain the environmental, economic and public benefits from the plant or plants as discussed in the County Plan, it is necessary that commitments be obtained from the local municipalities within the county as to the use of the plant or plants for the disposal of municipal solid waste from such municipalities; and
WHEREAS, the Township of Thornbury, Delaware County, has full authority under the applicable laws to provide for the management of municipal solid waste within its boundaries as hereinafter provided; and
WHEREAS, the form of this ordinance has been approved by the county, and it has been, or will be, included in the county’s Solid Waste Management Plan, which has been or will be filed with the DEP; and
WHEREAS, the county agrees to assist in the implementation of the County Plan, but only after this ordinance has been enacted by a sufficient number of municipalities in the county to make the construction of such plant or plants as proposed in the County Plan feasible; and
WHEREAS, under the Act, any municipality with a population density in excess of 300 persons per square mile, or which has a solid waste disposal problem, must develop a solid waste management plan to be approved by DEP but may, at its option and with the county’s agreement, delegate this duty to the county; and
WHEREAS, the Township has delegated this aforesaid duty to the county, and the county has accepted this responsibility."
[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 2; as amended by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
It is hereby declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance for any person to accumulate upon any property in the Township any municipal solid waste or to dispose of it except in accordance with this Part and other applicable laws, ordinances or regulations.
[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 3; as amended by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
The Township has been advised by the county that the solid waste plan proposes to provide for a plant or plants which will be operated efficiently and economically by the contractor and/or by the county and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations and also that the contractor and/or the county will impose reasonable charges, which will be uniform among all classes of users of the plant or plants.
[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 4; as amended by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
Except as it pertains to municipal solid waste collected directly by the Township, all collectors of municipal solid waste generated within the Township shall be registered with the Township, in accordance with procedures established by the Township from time to time, and shall be responsible for collecting municipal solid waste from properties in the Township pursuant to a contract between them and the Township and/or contracts between them and the owners or occupants of properties.
[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 5; as amended by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
All collectors shall deliver and dispose of all municipal solid waste collected within the Township at the Solid Waste Facility designated by the county subject to such reasonable regulations for the operation thereof as may be established by the county and/or contractor. Delivery and disposal at any other place shall be a violation of this Part and cause for revocation of the collector’s license, except in special circumstances approved in advance by the Township Supervisors, the county and/or contractor. All collectors shall comply in their operation with all applicable laws, ordinances, and regulations pertaining to the collection and transportation of municipal solid waste.
[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 6; as amended by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
No person shall use or permit to be used any property owned or occupied by him within the Township as a public or private dump, transfer station, or landfill for municipal solid waste, whether generated within the Township or elsewhere, without the express written prior approval of the Township Supervisors.
[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 7; as amended by Ord. 2-2005, 7/6/2005; and by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
Any person who shall violate any provision of this Part shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding before Magisterial District Justice, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $300, and in default of payment thereof, shall be committed to the county jail for a period not exceeding 30 days; and each day’s continuance of a violation of this Part as well as each truckload of illegally delivered waste shall constitute a separate offense.
[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 8; as amended by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
In addition to the penalties provided in § 20-307 herein, any continued violation of this Part or other applicable law which shall constitute a nuisance in fact, or which in the opinion of the Township Supervisors shall constitute a nuisance, may be abated by proceeding against the violator in the Court of Common Pleas for injunctive and other appropriate relief.
[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 9; as amended by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
The collection of municipal solid waste in the Township and the disposal thereof shall be subject to such further reasonable rules and regulations as may from time to time be promulgated by the Board of Supervisors by resolution, including, without limitation, regulations as to the form of registration application, the amount of fee to be charged for said registration, and the terms of the registration and registration issuance procedures; provided, however, that no such rules and regulations shall be contrary to the provisions of the Act, this Part, the County Solid Waste Plan, or the other applicable law.
[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 10; as amended by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
The Township reserves the right to amend this Part or repeal it at any time; provided, however, that the requirement for use of the designated solid waste facility for disposal of municipal solid waste from the Township shall not be amended or repealed without 30 days’ notice to the county during the term of the contract between the county (or Authority) and contractor providing for the construction and operation of the plant, which contract shall have a term of 25 years commencing from January 1, 2017, unless such amendment or repeal is otherwise required by the county or applicable law. The Township reserves the right at all times to determine if disposal pursuant to this Part is cost effective. In the event that the Township determines that the best interest of the taxpayers of the Township is served by an alternative means of waste disposal, it may amend or repeal this Part upon 30 days’ notice to the county. If the Township is not now a collector but in the future it becomes a collector, it agrees to deliver all municipal solid waste so collected to the plant, so long as this Part is in effect.
[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 11; as amended by Ord. 2-2005, 7/6/2005; and by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
1. 
The Township agrees to deliver or cause to be delivered, during the term of this agreement, all municipal solid waste generated within the Township at a facility designated by the county, in accordance with this Part.
2. 
The county agrees to accept for disposal all such municipal solid waste described in Subsection 1 above upon completion and commencement of operation of the plant, during the term of this Part, in accordance with a contract, containing terms satisfactory to the county, with the contractor providing for construction and operation of the plant.
3. 
The term of this Part shall run from March 7, 1988, for a period of 25 years and shall thereafter be extended, without further action from or on behalf of the Township, from January 1, 2017, for an additional period of 25 years. The Township, at its option, may terminate this agreement within 30 days' written notice to the county in the event that it will incur substantial costs over and above the costs generally accepted by the other municipalities in delivering municipal solid waste to the county during the term of the agreement, provided the Township has first obtained final approval from the DEP for its own plan under the Act, or an approval from the DEP for a modification that brings it under another plan that has already obtained final approval. It is understood, however, that upon any such, the county, the Authority, and/or the county's contractor shall be relieved of any responsibility to accept and dispose of municipal solid waste generated within the Township. It is further understood that any such termination of this agreement shall constitute a repeal, whether express or implied, of § 20-312 of this Part.
4. 
The county shall hold harmless and defend the Township from any suit, claim or action challenging the legality of this Part. In the event that any such suit, claim or action is brought against the Township, the Township shall authorize the county, through its designated legal counsel, to defend against the same. The Township shall cooperate with the county in said defense and shall give the County Solicitor notice of any such suit, claim or action within five days of receiving notice thereof.
[Ord. 1-1988, 3/7/1988, § 12; as amended by Ord. 1-2016, 5/4/2016]
1. 
DEP has recommended that the requirements of the Act can best be accomplished on a county-wide basis.
2. 
The Township, by formal resolution, has heretofore authorized the county to prepare the County Plan on the Township’s behalf.
3. 
The county, through the staff of its Public Works Department, its Planning Commission, and Charles M. Harris and Associates, Inc., Consulting Engineers, prepared the County Plan.
4. 
The Board of Supervisors of the Township reviewed the findings and recommendations of the County Plan as it affects the Township and found the County Plan acceptable.
5. 
The Township, accordingly, accepts and adopts the County Plan as the ten-year plan for solid waste management for the Township as required by the Act.
6. 
The county is hereby authorized to submit the County Plan to DEP for the final approval according to the Act.