Whenever used in this chapter, the
following words shall have the meanings indicated:
APPLICANT
A person who has applied for a permit under this chapter.
BOROUGH
The Borough of Franklin Park.
BOROUGH ENGINEER
An individual licensed and registered under the laws of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania engaged in the practice of engineering,
assigned or appointed by the Borough to perform the duties required
under this chapter, and the agent(s) of such individual.
ENERGY SOURCE OPERATIONS
Operations that involve the transmittal of seismic waves
to model the geophysical properties of the Earth's crust.
EXPLOSIVES
A chemical or other substance intended to produce an explosion
or that contains oxidizing or combustible units or other ingredients
in proportions or quantities that, by ignition by fire, by friction,
by concussion, by percussion or by detonation, may produce an explosion
capable of causing injury to persons or damage to property. The term
"explosive" includes, but is not limited to, black powder (all varieties),
dry gun cotton, nitroglycerine, dynamite, chlorates, fulminates, all
sensitized ammonium nitrate compositions and any other of their compounds
or mixtures, smokeless powder, wet gun cotton and wet nitrostarch.
PERMITTEE
Any person who is required to apply for a permit under this
chapter and who has received a permit from the Borough.
PERSON
A natural person or any corporate entity, including, but
not limited to, any partnership, corporation or limited liability
company and its or their heirs, successors, assigns, directors, officers
and employees, as applicable.
It shall be unlawful for any person
to conduct any exploration activities within the Borough regarding
oil, gas and/or other materials by the use of energy source operations,
including without limitation the use of shot holes, weight drops,
explosives, vibrating machines, vibroseis equipment, thumper trucks,
seismic drones, geophones, and/or any other vehicles or equipment
that cause and/or detect vibrations without first obtaining a permit
therefor from the Borough.
The term of a permit issued under
this chapter shall be for one year beginning on the date of approval
by the Borough Council and all energy source operations shall be completed
within said one-year term. The applicant shall notify the Building
Inspector/Zoning Officer of its intent to commence energy source operations
in writing a minimum of seven days before such operations commence.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in §
106-7A, all Borough and applicable municipal authority owned structures, buildings, wastewater treatment facilities, pump stations, infrastructure (including, but not limited to, roads and sidewalks) and underground utilities (including, but not limited to, water mains, sewer pipes and pipelines), shall be subject to pre-testing and post-testing inspections paid for by the applicant where such structures, buildings, wastewater treatment facilities, pump stations, infrastructure and/or underground utilities will be subjected to a peak particle velocity greater than 0.35 inch per second. The Borough and/or the relevant municipal authority shall have the option of receiving reimbursement of its/their actual cost of performing said inspections or having the inspections done by a third party firm approved by the Borough and/or relevant municipal authority and hired by the applicant. Any reimbursement provided by this section shall be paid to the Borough and/or relevant municipal authority within 30 days following the applicant's receipt of an invoice from the Borough and/or relevant municipal authority.
Subject to issuance of a permit by
the Borough, energy source operations may be conducted from 8:00 a.m.
until the earlier of sunset or 7:00 p.m. local time on Mondays through
Fridays and from 9:00 a.m. until the earlier of sunset or 7:00 p.m.
local time on Saturdays. Energy source operations are not permitted
to be conducted on Sundays or federally observed holidays.
The applicant shall register each of its representatives who shall enter upon private property in the Borough in connection with seeking permission to conduct energy source operations in the Borough in accordance with Chapter
154 of the Code of the Borough of Franklin Park.
The enactment and existence of this
Borough of Franklin Park Energy Source Operations Ordinance shall
not be construed as creating any right or entitlement whatsoever in
any person to perform energy source operations on Borough property
or any other property, public or private. Furthermore, this chapter
shall not be construed as conferring the legal right to perform energy
source operations as described herein on private property, and the
issuance of a permit pursuant to this chapter does not concomitantly
confer any right to perform energy source operations on such property.
This chapter shall not be construed as rendering on behalf of the
Borough any statement, assertion, warranty or guarantee concerning
the scope, methods and/or safety of energy source operations by any
person permitted by the Borough Council to conduct such operations
under this chapter. Accordingly, the Borough shall not, as a result
of any decision to grant or deny a permit under this chapter, be held
liable for any harm directly or indirectly related to energy source
operations performed in the Borough by a permittee.