[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Athens 6-8-1992 by Ord. No. 436, approved 6-8-1992 (Ch. 101 of the 1977 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
Whereas underground water in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a renewable natural resource with a great potential for further development and whereas it is imperative that this resource be developed in an orderly and reasonable manner, without waste, in order to assure sufficient supplies for continued population growth and industrial development of the commonwealth, therefore, it is the policy of the Council of the Borough of Athens to take such steps as shall be necessary to encourage the orderly development of this resource and, to this end, it is imperative that persons engaged in water well drilling and the Borough closely cooperate to procure detailed information on the groundwater resources for the use of Borough officials and the general public in the direction of groundwater development.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Water Well Drillers License Ordinance."
The following words and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
DEPARTMENT
The Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
DRILLING
All acts necessary to the construction of wells, such as drilling, boring, coring, washing, jetting, driving and digging.
GROUNDWATERS
Waters of underground streams, channels, artesian basins, reservoirs, lakes and other occurrences of water in and under the ground, whether percolating or otherwise.
PERSON
Any natural person, association, partnership or corporation. Whenever used in any section prescribing and imposing a penalty or imposing a fine or imprisonment or both, the term "person," as applied to an association, shall include the members thereof and, as applied to a corporation, the officers thereof. The provisions of this chapter restricting or regulating the actions of any person shall be construed as regulating or restricting the actions of the employees and agents of such person.
WATER WELL
Any excavation that is drilled, bored, cored, washed, driven, dug, jetted or otherwise constructed, when the intended use of such excavation is for the location, diversion or acquisition of groundwater; provided, however, that no excavation for the purposes of obtaining or prospecting for oil, natural gas, minerals or products of mining or quarrying or inserting media to repressure an oil- or natural-gas-bearing formation, storing petroleum or other materials shall be deemed a "water well" for the purpose of this chapter.
WATER WELL DRILLER
Any water well contractor who has contracted for the drilling, digging, driving, boring, coring, washing, jetting, constructing, altering or repairing of any water well.
WELL OWNER
Any person who owns land used for any purpose on which a well has been drilled.
A. 
After the effective date of this chapter, no person shall drill a water well within the Borough unless he has first secured from the Borough a license issued in such form and subject to such reasonable rules and regulations as the Borough shall prescribe or unless he is drilling such well within the scope of his employment by a licensed well driller.
B. 
The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to:
(1) 
Any farmer performing any function on any land owned or leased by him for farming purposes.
(2) 
Any natural person drilling a well on land owned by him or of which he is a lessee and used by him as his residence.
The Department may require the well owner to seal effectively or fill any abandoned well on his property in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Department of Environmental Protection.
Before any water well driller's license is issued, an application shall be made, in writing, to the Borough on a form prepared and furnished by the Borough. Such application shall contain a statement showing:
A. 
The name of the applicant.
B. 
The business address of the applicant.
C. 
The residence of the applicant.
D. 
The number of drilling rigs the applicant intends to operate during the license year and a short description of each rig.
E. 
Such additional information as the Borough may require.
Every license and rig permit issued under the provisions of this chapter shall expire on the last day of May next following the date of issue of such license or permit.
The Borough shall have the power to suspend or revoke the license of any water well driller, if the same was obtained through error or fraud, for failure to file the reports or maintain the records required by the provisions of this chapter, for fraudulent operations or for any other violation of this chapter. Proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Agency Law, the Act approved June 4, 1945 (P.L. 1388). The Borough shall have the authority to grant new licenses to persons whose licenses have been revoked.
Every person licensed as a water well driller shall write his usual signature with pen and ink in the space provided for that purpose on the license issued to him immediately upon receipt of such license. The licensee shall conspicuously display his license at his principal place of business. The person in charge of each drilling rig shall at all times have in his possession, when engaged in drilling, the drilling rig permit issued under the provisions of this chapter.
A. 
Every licensee shall be required to keep a record of each well upon a form to be prescribed by the Department of Environmental Protection, setting forth the exact geographic location and log of the well, containing a description of materials penetrated, the size and depth, the diameters and lengths of casing and screen installed, the static and pumping levels and the yield and such other information pertaining to the construction or operation of the well or wells as the Department of Environmental Protection may require, but no water well driller shall be required to furnish information as to coal deposits or other valuable minerals. This record shall be available to the Department of Environmental Protection upon request.
B. 
The Department of Environmental Protection or any authorized representative shall have the power to make such inspection and require the taking of such samples as may be deemed necessary by the Department. Such inspections and samples shall not materially increase the drilling costs.
C. 
The Department of Environmental Protection may, when in its discretion it deems it proper, require licensees to file with the Department reports containing such data from the records maintained pursuant to Subsection A of this section as the Department reasonably deems necessary to effectuate the purpose of this chapter. In no case may the Department require such report to be filed prior to the elapse of 21 days after the completion of the well.
D. 
In addition to the reports and records provided for in Subsections A, B and C of this section, every water well driller shall file with the Department, within 24 hours of making a contract to drill a water well, a report in the nature of a statement of intention to drill, which shall include the name and address of the owner of the well, the township and county in which the well is to be located and the approximate date on which the drilling is to commence.
A. 
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. If the penalty is not paid, the Borough shall initiate a civil action for collection in accordance with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement under this section, the Borough may enforce this chapter in equity in the Court of Common Pleas of Bradford County.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
B. 
Failure to keep records or file reports. Any licensee who shall fail to keep the records or file the reports required by this chapter shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding, be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed $200 or, in default or payment thereof, suffer imprisonment not to exceed 10 days.
C. 
Failure to have drilling rig permit in possession. Every person in charge of a drilling rig who shall fail to have in his possession a current permit issued with respect to such drilling rig, in violation of § 529-9 of this chapter, shall, upon summary conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed $10 or, in default thereof, to suffer five days' imprisonment. Every licensee who shall knowingly permit an employee to be in charge of the operation of a drilling rig without having in his possession a current permit issued with respect to such rig shall, upon summary conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed $100 or, in default of such fine, to suffer imprisonment not to exceed 10 days.
D. 
Every person to whom a license has previously been issued under the provisions of this chapter, who shall drill a water well or permit an employee to drill a water well while such person's license is under suspension or after such person's license has been revoked and not restored, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed $500 or to suffer imprisonment for three months, or both.
E. 
Any water well owner who shall abandon any existing well without effectively sealing or filling such well when requested to do so by the Department shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed $500 and, in default of such fine, to suffer imprisonment not to exceed 30 days.
The Borough is hereby authorized, empowered and directed to effectuate the provisions of this chapter and to adopt, amend and rescind such reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter.
All fees payable under this chapter and all other moneys received in connection with the administration thereof, together with all fines and penalties collected under the provisions of this chapter for violation of the same and all bail forfeited, shall be paid into the Borough.