[Adopted 5-19-1999 by Ord. No. 154]
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located within the municipal boundaries
of Edgmont Township.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
RETAINING TANK
A watertight receptacle, whether permanent or temporary,
which receives and retains sewage and is designed and constructed
to facilitate the ultimate disposal of the sewage at another site.
SEWAGE
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, or any substance
which constitutes pollution under the Clean Stream Law, as amended.
The use of a retaining tank may be permitted by the Board of
Supervisors, provided that the following minimum criteria are met:
A. The property owner shall provide evidence to the Township that the
on-lot septic system which serves the property has failed and that
no other viable alternative means of sewage collection and disposal
are available to the property.
B. The property is otherwise suitable for a retaining tank, and the
use, if approved, will be susceptible to regulation or restriction
by appropriate conditions and safeguards, including but not limited
to audible and visual warning devices (visible from street level)
to indicate when the retaining tank is within 75% of its capacity.
In addition, for retaining tanks with a capacity of 10,000 gallons
or more, an automated alarm system shall be installed to contact the
approved sewage disposal contractor when the retaining tank is 2/3
full.
C. The retaining tank shall be constructed and maintained in conformance
with the provisions of Title 25 of the Pennsylvania Code, as may be
amended and supplemented from time to time.
D. The use of a retaining tank will serve as a temporary measure, only
until a suitable alternative method of sewage disposal is available
to the property.
E. The use of a retaining tank will serve the best interests of the
Township, the convenience of the community, where applicable, and
the public health, safety and general welfare and/or will serve to
abate a nuisance or public health hazard.
F. The tank shall be installed below grade.
The Board of Supervisors of Edgmont Township is authorized and
empowered to undertake within the Township the control and methods
of retaining tank use, sewage disposal and sewage collection and transportation
thereof.
That the Board of Supervisors is hereby authorized and empowered
to adopt such rules and regulations concerning sewage which it may
deem necessary from time to time to effect the purposes herein, including
but not limited to requiring the posting of financial security and
execution of a written maintenance agreement by the property owner.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the Board of Supervisors
shall be in conformity with the provisions herein, all other ordinances
of the Township, and all applicable laws and applicable rules and
regulations of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Board of Supervisors shall have the right and power to fix,
alter, charge and collect rates, assessments, and other charges in
the area served by its facilities at reasonable and uniform rates
as authorized by applicable law, all of which may be amended by resolution
from time to time.
The owner of a property that utilizes a retaining tank shall:
A. Provide for the use of a retaining tank only as a temporary, interim
receptacle for the disposal of sewage as part of an overall more permanent
sewage disposal plan.
B. Install and maintain the retaining tank in conformance with this
or any ordinance of this Township, the provisions of any applicable
law, and the rules and regulations of the Board of Supervisors and
any administrative agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
C. Require an approved sewage disposal contractor to inspect the retaining
tank(s) on an annual basis and provide a written report of the inspection,
which shall also be provided to the Township.
D. Permit only an approved sewage disposal contractor to collect, transport,
and dispose of the contents therein.
E. Submit to the Township, on an annual basis, an executed contract
for the maintenance of the retaining tank with an approved sewage
disposal contractor. Such contract shall be renewed or replaced and
kept in full force and effect during the entire period in which a
retaining tank is utilized. Failure to maintain such a contract or
submit the contract to the Township shall cause an immediate revocation
of the retaining tank permit.
F. At the time the permanent system is operational, fill the retaining
tank with an approved material, remove and properly dispose of the
tank or, with the permission of the Township, incorporate the tank
in the permanent system.
G. Submit to the Township for its review and retention all pumping receipts.
Any person desiring to own, construct, operate or maintain a
retaining tank shall file an application therefor with the Township,
together with all plans (including, but not limited to, planning modules
and site plan) and other materials necessary to demonstrate compliance
with all of the provisions of this article. Upon approval by the Township,
the application shall be forwarded to the Department of Environmental
Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, if appropriate, which
shall, if it finds the application, plans and approvals to be in accordance
with this article, process the application in accordance with the
regulations administered by the Department of Environmental Protection
and, upon approval, issue permits.
The Township shall retain the right, but not the obligation,
to undertake any of the duties or responsibilities of the property
owner hereunder in the event that the property owner fails to comply
with any of the provisions of this article. Any costs, including reasonable
attorneys' fees, incurred by the Township shall be chargeable against
the property owner, and the Township may place a municipal lien against
the property for such amounts.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person failing to comply with the provisions of this article
shall be subject to the summary offense penalties of 35 P.S. § 750.13
and, in addition thereto, may be subject to the civil penalties of
35 P.S. § 750.13a. Each day of noncompliance shall constitute
a separate offense.
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 Township by either seeking mitigation of the nuisance
or appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent
jurisdiction.
[Adopted 12-10-2014 by Ord. No. 227]
This article shall be known and may be referred to as the "Edgmont
Township Public Sewer Ordinance."
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning
of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
APPROVED PROPERTY
A property which was at the effective date this article considered
in the capacity count for connection to the public sewer system pursuant
to the Township's then Official Sewage Facilities Plan.
BUILDING SEWER
The extension from the sewage drainage system of any structure
to the lateral of the public sewer system.
BUILDING TRAP
A device, fitting or assembly of fittings installed on the
building drain to prevent circulation of air between the drainage
system of the building and the building sewer.
CCTV
Closed-circuit television.
COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any building intended to be used wholly or in part for the
purposes of carrying on a trade, business or profession or for social,
amusement, religious, educational, charitable or public uses.
DELCORA
The Delaware County Regional Water Quality Control Authority.
DEPARTMENT
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
DOMESTIC SANITARY SEWAGE
The normal wastewater-carrying household and toilet wastes
from residences, business buildings, institutions, and commercial
and industrial establishments.
FRESH AIR VENT
A direct connection leading from the building trap to the
outer air.
GREASE TRAP
A system that shall intercept grease from wastewater discharge
of drainage fixtures and equipment prior to the wastewater entering
the drainage system.
I AND I
Any water other than sewage, including, but not limited to,
stormwater, surface water, spring water, groundwater, roof runoff,
subsurface drainage, building foundation drainage, cellar/basement
drainage, air-conditioner or dehumidifier drainage, swimming pool
drainage, pond drainage, and drainage from roof leader connections,
that is discharged into the public sewer system.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
Any property (including individual dwellings within a multi-dwelling
building) located 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 sanitary
sewage and/or industrial wastes shall be or may be discharged. Improved
property may also include an approved property for which permits and
approvals have been issued by the Township for the erection of 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 ESTABLISHMENT
Any building intended to be used wholly or in part for the
manufacturing, fabricating, processing, cleaning, laundering or assembly
of any product, commodity or article.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or waterborne wastes
or form of energy rejected or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing,
trade or business process or from the development, recovery or processing
of natural resources, as distinct from domestic sanitary sewage. Industrial
sewage to be treated by owner to domestic sanitary sewage.
LATERAL
That part of the public sewer system extending from a sewer
to the road right-of-way line or in a sewer right-of-way to the limit
of that right-of-way or, if no such lateral shall be provided, then
"lateral" shall mean that portion of or place in the public sewer
system which is provided for connection of any building sewer.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property served directly or indirectly, by the
public sewer system.
PRIVATE DWELLING OR LIVING UNIT
Any structure intended to be occupied as a whole by one family
or an apartment intended to be occupied by one family or any other
one-family living unit.
PUBLIC SEWER SYSTEM
All facilities owned and operated by DELCORA, under agreement
with the Township, for the collection, transportation, treatment or
disposal of sanitary sewage.
SEPTIC TANK
Includes any privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank
or similar receptacle used for the collection of wastewater as part
of an on-lot or other similar private sewage disposal system.
SEWAGE
All water or combination of liquid and water-carried solid,
biosolids or solid waste conducted away from any dwellings, residences,
business buildings, institutions, unit, firm, association, organization,
public corporation, political subdivision which is domestic sanitary
sewage, together with industrial wastes.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Edgmont, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
The Township reserves the right, from time to time, to delegate
any or all of its rights and obligations under this article, including
implementation, interpretation, inspection and enforcement of violations,
to DELCORA, and to appoint DELCORA as its official agent for such
purposes, whether or not specifically set forth in this chapter.
In the event that the Township, DELCORA, the Department or any
other agency with jurisdiction over the subject matter of this article
shall have, adopt or enact laws, ordinances, rules or regulations
which are more stringent than those of this article, the more stringent
laws, ordinance, rules and regulations may be utilized and enforced
in place of the less stringent provisions of this article.
It is the intent of this article to specifically repeal, replace
and supersede Ordinance No. 223 of 2014. Further, all ordinances or
parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this article
are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict. The Township reserves
the right at any time by ordinance to amend or otherwise modify or
repeal this article.