As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
ACT 537
The Act of January 4, 1966, P.L. 1535, as amended, 35 P.S.
§ 750.1 et seq. Known as the "Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities
Act."
ALTERNATE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM
A method of demonstrated on-lot sewage treatment and disposal
not described in Section 7 of the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act,
which may be permitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection pursuant to Chapter 73, Section 73.72 of the Sewage Facilities
Act, as amended.
AUTHORITY
The municipal authority responsible for providing sanitary
sewage service under a service area agreement with the Township.
AUTHORIZED AGENT
Any representative of the Township authorized by the Board
of Supervisors to carry out the provisions of this article.
BCHD
Bucks County Health Department.
BOARD
Board of Supervisors of Hilltown Township.
BOARD OF SEWER APPEALS
A Board which may be created by resolution of the Board of
Supervisors who shall be residents of Hilltown Township.
CESSPOOL
A covered pit with open jointed lining which receives the
sanitary sewage or other organic wastes directly from a building drain
or building sanitary sewer. It retains and allows liquid waste to
pass through the bottom and sides. This is an antiquated system which
predates PADEP standards (Chapter 73, Title 25 of the PA Code).
COMMUNITY SANITARY SEWAGE SYSTEM
Any system, whether publicly or privately owned, for the
collection of sanitary sewage from two or more lots or structures,
and the treatment and/or disposal of the sewage on one or more lots
or at any other site.
CONVENTIONAL SEWAGE SYSTEM
A system employing the use of demonstrated on-lot sewage
treatment and disposal technology in a manner specifically recognized
by the regulations promulgated under the Act. The term includes individual
and community on-lot sewage systems, including sandmounds.
DEPARTMENT
Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania (PADEP).
EVIDENCE OF MALFUNCTION
Wet, murky conditions (not resulting from surface water runoff
or ponding) in areas designated as the absorption area of an OLDS.
These conditions are typically accompanied by high grass and/or increased
growth in warm, dry months. In the winter, these areas generally do
not freeze, and the area is typically spongy and soft. Snow does not
normally accumulate in these areas. Information received from property
owners concerning frequent septic tank pumping or difficulty in pumping
a septic tank due to backflow from the absorption area is also evidence
of malfunction. Other factors considered as evidence of malfunctions
are indications of previous repairs and/or extensions of the system
not permitted by the Bucks County Health Department, and/or evidence
of recently placed soil and/or dirt in the vicinity where the absorption
area is located. The installation of a garden, shrubs, and/or trees
in the vicinity of the absorption area, as well as the inability to
distinguish "gray water" discharge, is also evidence of a malfunction.
EXPERIMENTAL SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM
A method of on-lot sewage treatment and disposal not described
in the Sewage Facilities Act, which is proposed for the purpose of testing and observation.
GRAY WATER
Domestically generated liquid wastes, including kitchen and
laundry wastes.
HOLDING TANK
A watertight receptacle that receives and retains sewage
and is designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of
the sewage at another site.
INDIVIDUAL RESIDENTIAL SPRAY IRRIGATION SYSTEM (IRSIS)
An individual sewage system permitted under Section 7 of
the Sewage Facilities Act, which serves a single dwelling, and which treats and disposes
of sewage utilizing a system of piping, treatment tanks, and soil
renovation through spray irrigation.
INDIVIDUAL SEWAGE SYSTEM
A system of piping, tanks, or other facilities serving a
single lot and collecting and disposing of sewage, in whole or in
part, into the soil or into any waters of this Commonwealth.
LOT
A part of a subdivision or a parcel of land used as a building
site or intended to be used for building purposes, whether immediate
or future.
MAINTENANCE
Those actions required to provide for the long-term proper
functioning of an on-lot sanitary sewage disposal system, including,
but not limited to, the pumping of septage from a septic tank, cesspool,
or dry well and pump tank; cleaning, pumping and/or leveling of a
distribution box; removal of trees or growth affecting the operation
of an on-lot sanitary sewage disposal system; diversion of surface
water away from an on-lot sanitary sewage disposal system; and, reduction
of flow from the structure being served (i.e., installation of water
conservation devices).
MALFUNCTION
The condition which occurs when on on-lot sanitary sewage
disposal system discharges untreated or inadequately treated sewage
onto the surface of the ground, into groundwater, or into surface
waters of the Commonwealth. Malfunction also occurs when sanitary
sewage backs up into the building connected to the system, or otherwise
causes a nuisance or hazard to the public health or pollution of the
ground or surface water or contamination of any public and/or private
drinking water wells.
MARGINAL CONDITIONS FOR LONG-TERM ON-LOT SEWAGE DISPOSAL
Conditions of a site for use of on-lot sewage disposal facilities,
as determined by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
and/or the Bucks County Department of Health, which may include soil
profile examinations which document areas of suitable soil intermixed
with areas of unsuitable soils; site evaluation which documents soils
generally suitable for elevated sandmounds, with some potential lots
with slopes over 12%; site evaluation which documents soils generally
suitable for inground systems, with some potential lots with slopes
in excess of 20%; or lot density of more than one EDU/acre.
MUNICIPAL SEWAGE SYSTEM
Sewer system and the treatment facility owned, operated,
or maintained by a municipality or municipal authority approved by
the Department under a permit issued to the Clean Streams Law, 35
P.S. § 691.1 et seq., as hereafter amended, supplemented,
modified, or reenacted by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania.
NEW SYSTEM
The installation of an on-lot sewage disposal system on a
property where a system does not currently exist, or the installation
of a larger on-lot sewage disposal system in conjunction with the
expanded use of an existing structure after the effective date of
this article. A new system does not include replacement systems installed
on properties with existing on-lot sewage disposal systems where rehabilitation/repair
efforts are required to correct an existing malfunction.
OFFICIAL SEWAGE FACILITIES ACT 537 PLAN
The plan adopted by the Township and approved by the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection in furtherance of the requirements
as set forth in the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act.
ON-LOT SANITARY SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM (OLDS)
Any system for disposal of sanitary sewage involving pre-treatment
and subsequent disposal of the clarified sewage into the soil for
final treatment and disposal; including both individual sanitary sewage
systems and community sanitary sewage systems.
PADEP
Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
PERSON
Any individual, company, association, public or private corporation
for profit or not for profit, partnership, firm, trust, estate, department,
board, bureau or agency of the Commonwealth, political subdivision,
municipality, district, authority, or any other legal entity whatsoever
which is recognized by law as having rights and duties. Whenever used
in any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty or imposing a fine,
the term "person" shall include the members of an association, partnership
or firm and the officers of any local agency or municipal, public
or private corporation for profit or not for profit.
PUMPER'S REPORT
Form used by licensed pumper/haulers to report pumping of
an on-lot sanitary sewage disposal system.
PUMPER/HAULER
Any person, as that term is defined in this article, who
engages in cleaning community or individual sanitary sewage systems
and transports the septage removed from these systems for disposal,
and is licensed by the Bucks County Health Department.
REGISTRATION FORM
Form which shall be made available by the Township for property
owners to register their on-lot sanitary sewage disposal system with
the Township.
REHABILITATION OR REPAIR
Work done to modify, alter, or repair an existing on-lot
sanitary sewage disposal system or individual components thereof,
including the enlargement of the total absorption area, provided the
flows from the structure being served are unchanged or reduced.
REPLACEMENT AREA
A portion of a lot, or property, sized to allow the installation
of a subsurface sanitary sewage disposal area, which is reserved to
allow for the installation of a replacement sanitary sewage system
in the event of the malfunction of the originally installed on-lot
sewage disposal system.
REPLACEMENT SYSTEM
An on-lot sanitary sewage disposal system which replaces
a previously installed on-lot sanitary sewage disposal system which
cannot be repaired or rehabilitated to a condition acceptable to the
Bucks County Health Department.
SEPTAGE
The residual scum and sludge pumped from septic systems.
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 which constitutes
pollution under the Act of June 22, 1937 (P.L. 1987, No. 394), known
as "The Clean Streams Law," as amended.
SEWAGE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER (SEO)
A person certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection who issues and reviews permit applications and/or conducts
such investigations and inspections as are necessary to implement
the Sewage Facilities Act (Act 537) and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and
this or any other ordinance adopted by the Township.
SEWAGE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
A comprehensive set of legal and administrative requirements
encompassing the requirements of this article and other administrative
requirements adopted by the Township to effectively enforce and administer
this chapter.
SMALL FLOW TREATMENT FACILITY
An individual or community sewage system design to adequately
treat sewage flows not greater than 2,000 gallons per day for final
disposal using a stream discharge or discharge to the surface of the
ground.
SUBDIVISION
The division or redivision of a lot, tract, or parcel of
lands by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels, or other
divisions of land, including changes in existing lot lines for the
purpose, whether immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court
for distribution to heirs or devises, transfer of ownership or building
or lot development; provided, however, that subdivision by lease for
agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres, not involving
any new street or easement, access, or any residential dwelling, shall
be exempted.
TOWNSHIP
Hilltown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
WATERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
All streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways,
wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage
systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or
underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained
within, flow through or border upon the state or any portion thereof,
and as defined by the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Act.
ZONING OFFICER
An individual employed by the Township to administer and
enforce the Township Zoning Ordinance.