[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Hopewell as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 9-9-1991 by Ord. No. 6-91-7]
This article shall be known and referred to as the "Municipal Solid Waste Ordinance."
A. 
The following words and phrases as used in this article shall have the meaning ascribed herein, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
ACT 97
The Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act of 1980 (P.L. 380, No. 97, July 7, 1980).[1]
ACT 101
The Pennsylvania Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of 1988 (Act 101).[2]
BULKY WASTE
Large items of solid waste including, but not limited to, appliances, furniture, large auto parts, trees, branches or stumps, which may require special handling due to size, shape or weight.
COLLECTOR or WASTE HAULER
Any person, firm, partnership, corporation or public agency who is engaged in the collection and/or transportation of municipal waste.
COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any establishment engaged in nonmanufacturing or nonprocessing business, including, but not limited to, stores, markets, offices, restaurants, shopping centers and theaters.
CONTAINER
A portable device in which waste is held temporarily for storage or transportation.
COUNTY
The County of Washington or the Washington County Board of Commissioners.
DEPARTMENT or DEP
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
DISPOSAL
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 enters the environment, is emitted into the air or is discharged to the waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
DOMESTIC WASTE or HOUSEHOLD WASTE
Solid waste, comprised of garbage and rubbish, which normally originates in the residential private household or apartment house.
GARBAGE
Any solid waste derived from animal, grain, fruit, or vegetable matter that is capable of being decomposed by microorganisms with sufficient rapidity to cause such nuisances as odors, gases or vectors.
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any establishment engaged in manufacturing or processing, including, but not limited to, factories, foundries, mills, processing plants, refineries, mines and slaughterhouses.
INSTITUTIONAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any establishment engaged in service, including, but not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, schools and universities.[3]
MUNICIPAL WASTE
Any garbage, refuse, industrial lunchroom or office waste and other material including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material resulting from operation of residential, municipal, commercial or institutional establishments and from community activities; and any sludge not meeting the definition of residual or hazardous waste under Act 97 from any municipal, commercial or institutional water supply treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant or air pollution control facility. The term does not include any source-separated recyclable materials.
MUNICIPALITY or TOWNSHIP
Hopewell Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, and/or its Board of Supervisors.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, institution, cooperative enterprises, municipal authority, municipality, state institution and agency, or any other legal entity recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties. In any provisions of this article prescribing a fine, penalty or imprisonment, or any combination of the foregoing, the term "person" shall include the officers and directors of any corporation or other legal entity having officers and directors.
RUBBISH
All nonputrescible municipal waste except garbage and other decomposable matter. This category includes, but is not limited to, ashes, bedding, cardboard, cans, crockery, glass, paper, wood and yard cleanings.
SALVAGING
The controlled removal or recycling of material from a solid waste processing or disposal facility.
SCAVENGING
The unauthorized and uncontrolled removal of material placed for collection or from a solid waste processing or disposal facility.
SOLID WASTE
Any waste, including, but not limited to, municipal, residual or hazardous wastes, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material.
STORAGE
The containment of any waste on a temporary basis in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of such waste. It shall be presumed that the containment of any waste in excess of one year shall constitute disposal. This presumption can be overcome by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.
TRANSPORTATION
The off-site removal of any solid waste at any time after generation.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq.
[2]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq.
[3]
Editor's Note: The original definition of "licensed collector or licensed waste hauler," which immediately followed this definition, was repealed at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
B. 
For purposes of this article, the singular shall include the plural and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to accumulate or permit to accumulate on any public or private property within the Township any garbage, rubbish, bulky waste or any other Township or residual waste except in accordance with all applicable Department rules and regulations adopted pursuant to Act 97 and Act 101.
B. 
Except for the burning of papers, paper materials, leaves, branches, wood or wood products, it shall be unlawful for any person to burn any solid waste within the Township except in accordance with all applicable Department rules and regulations adopted pursuant to Act 97 and Act 101.
C. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to process and/or dispose any solid waste in the Township except in accordance with all applicable Department rules and regulations adopted pursuant to Act 97 and Act 101.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Sec. 103.4, prohibiting collection without a license issued by the Township, which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
D. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to scavenge any materials from any solid waste that is stored or deposited for collection within the Township without prior written approval from the Township.
E. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to salvage or reclaim any solid wastes within the Township except at an approved and permitted resource recovery facility under any applicable Department rules and regulations adopted pursuant to Act 97 and Act 101.
A. 
The storage of all solid waste shall be practiced so as to prevent the attraction, harborage or breeding of insects or rodents and to eliminate conditions harmful to public health or which create safety hazards, odors, unsightliness or public nuisances.
B. 
Any person producing municipal waste shall provide a sufficient number of approved containers to store all waste materials generated during periods between regularly scheduled collections and shall place and store all waste materials therein.
C. 
Any person storing municipal waste for collection shall comply with the minimum standards for the storage of municipal waste set forth in the Department's Title 25, Chapter 285, Subchapter A, Regulations for the Storage of Municipal Waste.
A. 
All households, homeowners, commercial, industrial and institutional establishments within the Township shall utilize the services of a licensed collector for disposal of their domestic waste or household waste.
B. 
All licensed collectors and waste haulers shall comply with the minimum standards for collection and transportation of municipal waste set forth in the Department's Title 25, Chapter 285, Subchapter B, Regulations for Collection and Transportation of Municipal Waste.
C. 
All municipal waste collected within the Township shall only be conveyed or transported to a transfer station, processing facility, and/or disposal site permitted by the Department of Environmental Protection, and/or other regulatory agencies pursuant to the approved Municipal Waste Management Plan for Washington County.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Sec. 106, Licensing requirements, which immediately followed this section, was repealed at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
The Township may petition the Court of Common Pleas, Washington County, for an injunction, either mandatory or prohibitive, to enforce any of the provisions of this article.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this article shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that such violation continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this article that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense.
In the event that any section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this article shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid for any reason, the remainder of this article shall not be invalidated by such action or determination.
This article shall take effect on Oct. 1, 1991.