As used in this Part, 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. For
present purposes, the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority is the
municipal authority responsible for providing sanitary sewage service
under a service agreement with Plumstead Township.
AUTHORIZED AGENT
Any representative of the Township authorized by the Board
of Supervisors to carry out the provisions of this Part.
BCHD
The Bucks County Health Department.
BOARD
The Board of Supervisors of Plumstead Township.
BOARD OF SEWER APPEALS
A board which may be created by resolution of the Board of
Supervisors who shall be residents of Plumstead 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 (Title 25 Pa. Code Chapter 73).
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 Sewage Facilities Act. The
term includes individual and community on-lot sewage systems, including
sand mounds.
DEPARTMENT
The Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania (PADEP).
EVIDENCE OF MALFUNCTION
Conditions, including, but not limited to 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 the 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 an 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 sand mounds, with some potential lots
with slopes over 12%; site evaluation which documents soils generally
suitable for in-ground 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.
MUNICIPALITY
Plumstead Township, Bucks County, 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 Part. 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 pretreatment
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
The 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.
PUBLIC SEWAGE SYSTEM
The sewer system and the treatment facility owned, operated
or maintained by a municipality or municipal authority approved by
the Department under a permit issued pursuant 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.
PUMPER'S REPORT
The form used by licensed pumper/haulers to report pumping
of an on-lot sanitary sewage disposal system.
PUMPER or HAULER
Any person, as that term is defined in this Part, 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 Part and other administrative
requirements adopted by the Township to effectively enforce and administer
the Part.
SEWAGE SYSTEM
Refers to both a community sewage system and an individual
sewage system.
SMALL FLOW TREATMENT FACILITY (SFTF)
An individual or community sewage system designed 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
Shall be the definition as set forth in Chapter
22, Subdivision and Land Development.
TOWNSHIP
Plumstead 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 Chapter
27, Zoning, of the Township Code.