[Adopted 10-3-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-7]
The purpose of this article is to establish procedures for the
use and maintenance of existing and new holding tanks designed to
receive and retain sewage whether from residential or commercial uses
and it is hereby 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 municipality.
Unless the context specifically clearly indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
The Metal Township Municipal Authority of Franklin County,
Pennsylvania.
The Board of Supervisors of the Metal Township of Franklin
County, Pennsylvania.
The Metal Township Code.
The Bureau or office of the Department of Environmental Protection
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which is responsible for administering
the issuance of permits and promulgating the regulations governing
the issuances of permits for holding tanks.
Design standards for holding tanks as established by DEP
(25 Pa.Code § 73.61 et seq.) as well as all relevant installation
standards and relevant locational standard established by such regulation
are incorporated herein by reference as fully as though set forth
at length. As used herein, the term "design standards" shall be deemed
to include "installation standards" and "locational standards."
A watertight receptacle, whether permanent or temporary,
which receives and retains sewage conveyed by a water carrying system
and is designed and constructed to facilitate the ultimate disposal
of sewage at another site. Holding tanks include, but are not limited
to, the following:
CHEMICAL TOILETA toilet using chemicals that discharge to a holding tank.
RETENTION TANKA holding tank where sewage is conveyed to it by a water-carrying system.
VAULT PIT PRIVYA holding tank designed to receive sewage where water under pressure is not available.
Any property within the Township 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 sewage
shall or may be discharged.
Metal Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals
and any noxious or deleterious substance being harmful or inimical
to the public health, or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of
water for domestic water supply or for recreation of any substance
which constitutes pollution under the Clean Streams Law, 35 P.S. § 691.11-691.1001.
The Township of Metal, Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
The Board is hereby authorized and empowered to undertake within
the Township the control and methods of holding tank use, sewage disposal
and sewage collection and transportation thereof.
The Board is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt such rules
and regulations concerning sewage which it may deem necessary from
time to time to affect the purposes herein.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the Township shall
be in conformity with the provisions herein, the Code of the Township,
and all applicable laws, and applicable rules and regulations of administrative
agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Board shall have the right and power to fix the amount and
terms of a bond or other security to ensure compliance with the provisions
of this article, the rules and regulations and the rates, assessments
and other charges adopted pursuant to this article. Said bond or other
security shall be furnished by the owner or owners of the property
or properties using the holding tank and shall cover the period of
time the holding tank is intended to be used and for such period of
time thereafter as the Board shall deem necessary.
The applicant shall post with the Board a letter of credit or
other similar undertaking from a reputable financial institution or
insurance carrier authorized to conduct such business in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania or (at the applicant's election) an amount in
cash guaranteeing:
A.
That the applicant will install and maintain the holding tank in
accordance with DEP and Township regulations as the same exist at
the time of application.
B.
That the applicant shall have holding tank pumped out at regular
intervals and at times of malfunction or emergency and at such other
times as may be necessary to avoid overflow or other hazard and will
remove the said effluent and deposit the same at and only at any authorized
disposal facility, as approved by DEP.
C.
That, within 10 days after public sewage facilities are available
to the lot, the owner will dismantle such holding tank and connect
to the public sewage facility and pay all costs and fees therefore.
The method of the holding tank dismantling shall be approved by the
Township Engineer and shall include, but not be limited to, complete
removal or the destruction and backfilling in place of said tank.
D.
Security shall be in an amount equal to 110% of the contract prices
and (in absence of such contract prices) the estimated cost of all
of the foregoing, plus an additional 10% of such costs and contracts
for each year beyond the first year for the duration of the permit.
E.
The security agreement shall provide that the applicant may draw
from the security so posted pump-out costs to and only to the extent
provided in accordance with the terms of the contracts and estimates
for and only for completed work. The maximum of any draw shall be
limited to the proportion of the contract completed, materials furnished
or work done. The security agreement shall provide that, in default
by the permittee and during the period such default continues, the
Board or its authorized representative may draw upon said security
for necessary payments for expenses incurred on the Board's sole
demand without the necessity of approval or concurrence by the landowner.
The amount and adequacy of the security shall be determined by the
applicant, subject to the approval of the Township Engineer, which
approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.
The Board shall have the right and power to charge and collect
rates, assessments, and other charges in the area served by holding
tanks at reasonable and uniform rates as authorized by applicable
law.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes a holding tank
shall:
A.
Maintain the holding tank in conformance with this article or the
Code of this Township, the provisions of any applicable law, and the
rules and regulations of the Authority and any administrative agency
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B.
Permit the Board or its agents to inspect holding tanks on an annual
basis.
C.
Permit only the Board or its agents to collect, transport, and dispose
of the contents therein.
No person shall install or utilize or cause to be installed
or utilize any holding tank within the Township until and unless such
person has obtained from the Board or their duly appointed representative
a permit evidencing the posting of bond or other security as required
herein and the compliance with all other conditions precedent to the
installation and utilization of a holding tank as set forth herein.
A.
Holding tanks shall not be permitted or allowed as a means of effluent
disposal for any new construction, except where the Township's
official plan or revision provides for replacement by adequate sewerage
services in accordance with a schedule approved by the Department
of Environmental Protection.
B.
Holding tanks will be allowed for temporary use only, and said temporary use of a holding tank shall not be permitted if a property owner is required to connect to the sewer system. If property owner's principal building is within 150 feet from the sewer system, he/she shall be required pursuant to Article III of Chapter 18, entitled "Mandatory Sewer Connection" of the Metal Township Code to connect to such system with 60 days after notice has been given to the property owner.
C.
No holding tanks shall be placed into operation or utilized prior
to the issuance of a holding tank permit by the Township Sewage Enforcement
Officer. Pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Metal Township
Municipal Authority, such holding tank permits shall expire upon mandatory
connection to the township sewer system.
D.
All applications for a holding tank permit shall be in accordance
with the applicable Metal Township Code, rules and regulations existing
as of the date of this section and the Code, rules and regulations
as hereinafter amended from time to time by the Township Supervisors.
All applications for a holding tank permit shall contain or have attached
thereto a fully executed, signed and notarized maintenance contract
relating to the periodic pumping of said holding tank.
E.
The Code, rules and regulations and the applicable statutes of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, together with the applicable rules and
regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
as existing at the time of the issuance of the permit and such other
revisions to the applicable statutes, Code, rules and regulations
as enacted or promulgated from and after the date of the issuance
of the permit, must be strictly adhered to and in conformity with
said statutes, Code, rules and regulations as heretofore set forth.
F.
Prior to the issuance of a holding tank permit by the Sewage Enforcement
Officer of the Metal Township, all application fees and escrow fees
as hereinafter provided shall be paid by the applicant to the Metal
Township.
G.
All owners of holding tank permits shall install, at the time that
said holding tank permit is issued, a potable water meter connected
to the water supply source servicing the property or premises for
which the holding tank permit was issued.
H.
All holding tank permittees shall be required to maintain a daily
log setting forth the recorded information taken from the source of
the water supply, which data or information shall reflect the pumping
intervals, the gallons of water pumped and the gallons of water used.
In addition, the application for a holding tank permit shall likewise
provide for and have affixed thereto the signature of the effluent
hauler, together with the name, address and telephone number of said
effluent hauler.
I.
The Sewage Enforcement Officer of Metal Township shall inspect said
permitted holding tanks every six months from the date of issuance,
and as a condition of the continued use of the holding tank the permittee
must produce for inspection the daily log, which log must, at the
time of inspection, contain all current data as set forth hereinabove.
J.
As set forth in the Metal Township Municipal Authority's rules
and regulations, any holding tank and similarly devised methods of
connection of an individual sewage system shall be abandoned, rendered
inoperable, and pumped out by a certified hauler and contents disposed
of properly and in accordance with applicable laws, and the tank must
be removed or knocked down and/or backfilled with suitable material
approved by the Authority within 30 days after connection.
K.
Failure on the part of any holding tank permittee to comply with
the provisions of this article, the rules and regulations as may hereinafter
be promulgated or currently in existence or failure to comply with
the applicable statutes of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the
rules and regulations of the Department of Environmental Protection
relating to the use and maintenance of holding tanks shall result
in the immediate revocation of the holding tank permit and, upon written
notice of the revocation of said holding tank permit, it shall thereafter
be unlawful for the owner of said premises or property to thereafter
utilize the same for any use whatsoever.
Holding tanks may be installed if and only if:
Any person desiring to own, construct, operate or maintain a
holding tank on lands within Metal Township, shall file an application,
signed by the applicant permittee, therefore on a form supplied by
or satisfactory to the Board, together with all plans and other materials
necessary to demonstrate compliance with all of the requirements of
this article. The application shall have attached thereto a signed
and notarized maintenance contract, which maintenance contract sets
forth the schedule of pumping dates. The Board shall establish by
resolution, and may from time to time by resolution amend, a schedule
of fees for the application for such holding tanks and the administration
of this article.
At the time an application is made for a holding tank permit,
the applicant shall pay to the Metal Township an application fee,
as set from time to time by resolution of the Board, and shall also
deposit a sum, as set forth from time to time by resolution of the
Board, with the Metal Township as and for an escrow find to be utilized
for the purpose of assuring compliance with the Pennsylvania Sewage
Facilities Act, 35 P.S. 750.1 et seq., the rules and regulations promulgated
by the Department of Environmental Protection and in compliance with
the Metal Township Code, rules and regulations as promulgated by the
Metal Township. Said escrow fund shall be used by the Metal Township
to defray any expenses that it may incur as a result of any violations,
terms and conditions relating to the issuance of the holding tank
permit. Said escrow fund shall be held in an interest-bearing account,
and all accrued interest shall be paid to the individual depositing
the escrow fund. At the termination of the period for which the permit
was issued, the fund, or any remaining balance not used for the purpose
as herein set forth, shall be returned to the individual depositing
the fund at the time the application is filed.
Any person who violates any provisions of this article shall,
upon conviction thereof by summary proceedings brought before a District
Justice under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty
of a summary offense, and shall be subject to the payment of a fine
not to exceed $1,000, plus the costs of prosecution and upon default
of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment
in the county prison to the extent allowed by law for the punishment
of summary offenses pursuant to the Second Class Township Code, Act
No. 172 of 1996, 53 P.S. § 66601(2).
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article,
any violation of this article shall constitute a nuisance and shall
be abated by the municipality or the Board by either seeking mitigation
of the nuisance or appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court
of competent jurisdiction and the Board is specifically authorized
as a part of said equitable or legal relief to seek injunctions against
the use of the holding tank and the property and buildings serviced
thereby until the nuisance shall be abated and compliance had with
the provisions of this article.
In all other respects, the Code of the Metal Township shall
remain as previously enacted and ordained.
