[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Dalton as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-14-1982 by Ord. No. 4-1982]
This article shall have as its purpose the establishing of procedures for the issuing of applications and permits for the enforcement of the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act of 1966, P.L. 1535, No. 537, as subsequently amended, and shall provide that all persons installing an individual or community sewage disposal system within the purview of the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act, as amended, shall first obtain a permit which certifies that the site, plan and specifications of such system are in compliance with the said Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act, as amended, and all other rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the Act, and that the said proposed system shall conform with the provisions of this article and all other applicable ordinances and regulations.
Pursuant to Section 8 of Act 208 of 1974,[1] subtitled "Powers and duties of local agencies," Dalton Borough hereby designates the members of Dalton Borough Council and their successors as the local agency for the purpose of enforcement and supervision of the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act, as amended. The members of Dalton Borough Council acting as the said local agency are hereby empowered to carry out all the functions, powers and duties granted to local agencies as set forth in Section 8 of Act No. 208 of 1974. The contents of Section 8 of Act No. 208 of 1974 are hereby incorporated by reference.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 35 P.S. § 750.8.
A. 
No person shall construct, install or request bid proposals for construction or alter an individual sewage system or community sewage system or construct or request bid proposals for construction or install or occupy any building or structure for which an individual sewage system or community sewage system is to be installed without first obtaining a permit indicating that the site and the plans and specifications for such system are in accordance with the provisions of the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act, as amended, and the standards adopted pursuant to the Act.
B. 
The procedure for the application for permit shall be as follows:
(1) 
The application shall be submitted in writing to the Sewage Enforcement Officer acting for the Dalton Borough Council, and said application shall be in such form and shall include such data as the Department of Environmental Protection may prescribe by regulation.
(2) 
At the time of application for such permit, the required fees imposed by Dalton Borough Council pursuant to its authority under the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act shall be paid to the Borough of Dalton. The Borough of Dalton shall have the authority to set and collect application fees, and a fee schedule shall be established and may establish different charges for various types of individual sewage systems and community sewage systems consistent with the administrative costs of reviewing the application and supervising the installation of said system. Dalton Borough Council may by resolution amend the said fee schedule from time to time to account for any increases or adjustments in administrative costs necessary for reviewing applications and supervising the installation of systems.
(3) 
All costs incident to the preparation of any test holes for the purpose of percolation tests shall be at the expense of the applicant.
(4) 
A permit shall be issued or denied within seven days after receiving an application for permit except that, in case the Sewage Enforcement Officer in accordance with the provisions of Section 8 of Act No. 208 finds the data submitted by an applicant is incomplete or the Sewage Enforcement Officer is unable to verify the information submitted, the Sewage Enforcement Officer shall so notify the applicant within seven days of receiving said application, and the time for acting thereon shall be extended 15 days beyond the date of receipt of adequate supplementary amendatory data. Denial of a permit shall be supported by a statement in writing of the reasons for such action.
(5) 
All applicants whose systems, according to the provisions of Act No. 208 of 1974, require that the design and construction be supervised by a professional engineer shall pay all costs directly to the engineer commissioned by the applicant for such purpose.
(6) 
The local application process shall conform in all respects with Section 7 of Act No. 208 of 1974, the provisions of which are incorporated herein by reference.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 35 P.S. § 750.7.
All installation of subsurface sewage disposal systems must comply with the provisions of this article concerning applications for permits. There are no exceptions for any installation of subsurface sewage disposal systems.
A. 
Any person aggrieved by an action of a Sewage Enforcement Officer in granting or denying a permit under this Act shall have the right, within 30 days after receipt of notice of the action, to request a hearing before the members of Dalton Borough Council. Revocation of permits shall occur only after notice and opportunity for hearing has been given to the permittee. Hearings under this subsection and any subsequent appeal shall be conducted pursuant to the Act of December 2, 1968, P.L. 1133, No. 353, known as the Local Agency Law.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 2 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 551 et seq. and 751 et seq.
B. 
Any person aggrieved by the action of the members of Dalton Borough Council in ruling upon the appeal from the Sewage Enforcement Officer in the granting or denying of a permit shall have the right to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, as set forth in the Local Agency Law.
Any person who shall violate any provisions of Section 7 of the Act No. 208 of 1974 or any of the provisions of this article or any of the rules, regulations or standards promulgated under Section 7 of Act No. 208 of 1974, or who resists or interferes with any officer, agent or employee of Dalton Borough in the performance of his duties, shall be guilty of a summary offense. Upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding, each such person shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 and costs, to be paid to the said County, or in default thereof shall be confined in the County Jail for a period of not more than 30 days.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
Nothing in this article shall be construed as preventing the commonwealth or any district attorney or solicitor from proceeding in the court of law or equity to abate nuisances forbidden under the Act known as the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act, as amended, or any other existing law. The penalties provided for in § 282-6 above are intended to be additional and cumulative remedies for the purpose of abating public health hazards and pollution of the waters of this commonwealth, and nothing in this article shall in any way abridge or alter rights of actions or remedies now or hereafter existing in equity or under the common law or statutory law, criminal or civil.
[Adopted 6-3-1986 by Ord. No. 3-1986]
A. 
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise, the meanings of terms and phrases used in this article shall be as follows:
AUTHORITY
Dalton Sewer Authority, a Pennsylvania municipal authority.
BOROUGH
The Borough of Dalton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, a municipality of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, acting by and through its Council or, in appropriate cases, acting by and through its authorized representatives.
BUILDING SEWER
The extension from the sewage drainage system of any structure to the lateral of a sewer.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
Any property located within this Borough 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 sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes shall be or may be discharged.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or waterborne wastes or form of energy rejected or escaping in the course of any industrial, manufacturing, trade or business process or in the course of the development, recovery or processing of natural resources, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
LATERAL
That part of the sewer system extending from a sewer to the curbline or, if there shall be no curbline, to the property line or, if no such lateral shall be provided, then "lateral" means that portion of, or place in, a sewer which is provided for connection of any building sewer.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole or partial, of any improved property.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, society, corporation or other group or entity.
SANITARY SEWAGE
Normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from any improved property.
SEWER
Any pipe, main or conduit constituting a part of the sewer system used or usable for sewage collection purposes.
SEWER SYSTEM
All facilities, as of any particular time, for collecting, transporting, pumping, treating and/or disposing of sanitary sewage and industrial wastes, situate in or adjacent to this Borough and owned, maintained and operated by the Authority.
A. 
The owner of any improved property benefited, improved or accommodated by a sewer shall connect such improved property with such sewer in such manner as this Borough may require within 45 days after notice to such owner from this Borough to make such connection for the purpose of discharge of all sanitary sewage and industrial wastes from such improved property, subject to such limitations and restrictions as shall be established herein or as otherwise shall be established by this Borough or the Authority from time to time.
B. 
All sanitary sewage and industrial wastes from any improved property, after connection of such improved property with a sewer shall be required under Subsection A, shall be conducted into a sewer, subject to such limitations and restrictions as shall be established herein or as otherwise shall be established by this Borough or the Authority from time to time.
C. 
Prohibited acts.
(1) 
No person shall place or deposit or permit to be placed or deposited upon public or private property within this Borough any sanitary sewage or industrial wastes in violation of Subsection A.
(2) 
No person shall discharge or permit to be discharged to any natural outlet within this Borough any sanitary sewage or industrial wastes in violation of Subsection A, except where suitable treatment has been provided which is satisfactory to this Borough and the Authority.
D. 
Simultaneous use of private receptacles prohibited.
(1) 
No privy, vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle shall be used or maintained at any time upon any improved property which has been connected to a sewer or which shall be required under Subsection A to be connected to a sewer.
(2) 
Every such privy, vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle in existence shall be abandoned and, at the discretion of this Borough, shall be cleansed and filled at the expense of the owner of such improved property and under the direction and supervision of this Borough; and any such privy, vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle not so abandoned and, if required by this Borough, cleansed and filled shall constitute a nuisance, and such nuisance may be abated as provided by law at the expense of the owner of such improved property.
E. 
No privy, vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle at any time shall be connected with a sewer.
F. 
The notice by this Borough to make a connection to a sewer, referred to in Subsection A, shall consist of a copy of this article, including any amendments and/or supplements at the time in effect, or a summary of each section hereof and a written or printed document requiring the connection in accordance with the provisions of this article and specifying that such connection shall be made within 45 days from the date such notice is given. Such notice may be given at any time after a sewer is in place which can receive and convey sanitary sewage and industrial wastes for treatment and disposal from the particular improved property. Such notice shall be served upon the owner either by personal service or by registered mail or by such other method as at the time may be provided by law.
A. 
Except as otherwise provided in this Subsection A, each improved property shall be connected separately and independently with a sewer through a building sewer. Grouping of more than one improved property on one building sewer shall not be permitted except under special circumstances and for good sanitary reasons or other good cause shown and then only after special permission of this Borough and the Authority, in writing, shall have been secured and subject to such rules, regulations and conditions as may be prescribed by this Borough or the Authority.
B. 
All costs and expenses of construction of a building sewer and all costs and expenses of connection of a building sewer to a sewer, including testing, shall be borne by the owner of the improved property to be connected; and such owner shall indemnify and save harmless this Borough and the Authority from all loss or damage that may be occasioned, directly or indirectly, as a result of construction of a building sewer or of connection of a building sewer to a sewer.
C. 
A building sewer shall be connected to a sewer at the place designated by the Authority and where the lateral is provided. The invert of a building sewer at the point of connection shall be the same or a higher elevation than the invert of the sewer. A smooth, neat joint shall be made and the connection of a building sewer to the lateral shall be made secure and watertight.
D. 
If the owner of any improved property benefited, improved or accommodated by a sewer, after 45 days' notice from this Borough requiring the connection of such improved property with a sewer, in accordance with § 282-9A, shall fail to connect such improved property, as required, this Borough may make such connection and may collect from such owner the costs and expenses thereof by a municipal claim, an action in assumpsit or such other legal proceeding as may be permitted by law.
A. 
Where an improved property, at the time connection to a sewer is required, shall be served by its own sewage disposal system or device, the existing house sewer line shall be broken on the structure side of such sewage disposal system or device and attachment shall be made, with proper fittings, to continue such house sewer line as a building sewer.
B. 
No building sewer shall be covered until it has been inspected and approved by the Authority. If any part of a building sewer is covered before so being inspected and approved, it shall be uncovered for inspection at the cost and expense of the owner of the improved property to be connected to a sewer.
C. 
Every building sewer of any improved property shall be maintained in a sanitary and safe operating condition by the owner of such improved property.
D. 
Every excavation for a building sewer shall be guarded adequately with barricades and lights to protect all persons from damage and injury. Streets, sidewalks and all other public property disturbed in the course of installation of a building sewer shall be restored at the cost and expense of the owner of the improved property being connected in a manner satisfactory to this Borough and the Authority.
E. 
If any person shall fail or refuse, upon receipt of a notice from this Borough or the Authority, in writing, to remedy any unsatisfactory conditions with respect to a building sewer within 45 days of receipt of such notice, this Borough or the Authority may refuse to permit such person to discharge sanitary sewage and industrial wastes into the sewer system until such unsatisfactory conditions shall have been remedied to the satisfaction of this Borough and the Authority.
F. 
This Borough reserves the right to adopt, from time to time, additional rules and regulations as it shall deem necessary and proper relating to connections with a sewer and the sewer system, which additional rules and regulations, to the extent appropriate, shall be and shall be construed as a part of this article.
A. 
No person shall discharge or permit to be discharged into the sewer system any stormwater, roof or surface drainage; nor shall any person discharge or permit to be discharged into the sewer system any industrial waste, chemicals or other matter:
(1) 
Having a temperature higher than 120° F.;
(2) 
Containing more than 100 parts per million (ppm) by weight of fat, oil or grease;
(3) 
Containing any gasoline, benzene, naptha, fuel oil or other inflammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas;
(4) 
Containing any unground garbage;
(5) 
Containing any ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, paunch manure or any other solid or viscous substance capable of causing obstruction or other interference with the proper operation of the treatment plant;
(6) 
Having a pH lower than 6.0 or higher than 9.0 or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to the structures, equipment or personnel of the treatment plant or other portion of the sewer system;
(7) 
Containing a toxic or poisonous substance (including wastes containing cyanide, copper and/or chromium ions) in sufficient quantity to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process constituting a hazard to humans or animals or to create any hazard in the receiving waters of the treatment plant;
(8) 
Containing total solids of such character and in such quantity that unusual attention or expense is required to handle such materials at the treatment plant;
(9) 
Containing noxious or malodorous gas or substance capable of creating a public nuisance, unless otherwise permitted, authorized or approved by the Authority and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or by any duly constituted board, commission or department of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; or
(10) 
Otherwise prohibited by the Authority or the Borough by subsequently adopted or enacted resolution or ordinance, as applicable.
B. 
The prohibition against discharge or permitting to be discharged into the Dalton sewer system any stormwater, roof or surface drainage water is clarified to specify that the discharge of stormwater, roof or surface drainage water into the Dalton sewer system via sump pump, piping or any other artificial method is strictly prohibited, and offenders will be liable in accordance with § 282-13A, as amended.
[Added 11-9-2017 by Ord. No. 3-2017]
A. 
Any person who shall violate this article shall be liable, upon summary conviction for a first offense and upon summary conviction for each subsequent offense, to a fine of not less than $200 together with the costs of prosecution in each case. Each day that a violation shall continue shallbe deemed and shall be taken to be a separate offense and shall be assessed a fine as set forth herein. Additionally, any person who shall violate this article shall also be assessed costs of investigation, legal fees and additional sewer assessments and penalties.
[Amended 11-9-2017 by Ord. No. 3-2017]
B. 
Fines and costs imposed under provisions of this article shall be enforceable and recoverable in the manner at the time provided by applicable law.
It is 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 this Borough.