The purpose of this article is to establish procedures for the
use and maintenance of existing and new privies designed to receive
and retain sewage whether from residential or commercial uses and
it is hereby declared that the enactment of this article is necessary
for the protection, benefit and preservation of the health, safety
and welfare of the inhabitants of this municipality.
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
AUTHORITY
Supervisors of Charleston Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
Any property 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 sewage
shall or may be discharged.
MUNICIPALITY
Charleston Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
PRIVY
A watertight receptacle, whether permanent or temporary,
which receives and retains sewage where water under pressure or piped
wastewater is not available 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 Streams Law (35 P.S. §§ 691.1
through 691.1001).
That the Authority is hereby authorized and empowered to undertake
within the Township the control and methods of privy use, sewage disposal
and sewage collection and transportation thereof.
That the Authority 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.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the Authority 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 Authority shall have the right and power to fix 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.
The collection and transportation of all sewage from any improved
property utilizing a privy shall be done solely by or under the direction
and control of the Authority, and the disposal thereof shall be made
only at such site or sites as may be approved by the Department of
Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes a privy shall:
A. Maintain the privy in conformance with this or any ordinance of this
Township, the provisions of any applicable law, and the rules and
regulations of the Authority and any administrative agency of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B. Permit only the Authority or its agent to collect, transport, and
dispose of the contents therein.
C. Abandon the privy consistent with applicable public health and environmental
standards and obtain a permit for and install an approved on-lot system
meeting Chapter 73 standards in the event that water under pressure or piped
wastewater becomes available to the property.
D. Permit the Authority to enter upon lands to inspect the privy for
proper operation, maintenance and contents disposal.
E. Any landowner who applies for and receives a permit for a privy shall
be deemed to have granted his consent for inspections of the privy
and facilities used in connection with the privy by Sewage Enforcement
Officer of the Township. At reasonable times during the hours of 8:00
a.m. until 8:00 p.m., the landowner would grant the Sewage Enforcement
Officer access to the premises for the purpose of making such inspections
upon request of the Sewage Enforcement Officer verbally or in writing.
F. Any landowner receiving a privy permit shall furnish to the Township
a true and corrected copy of all pumping receipts for cleaning or
removing the contents of the privy. Such reports shall be made to
the Township's Secretary within 10 days after the contents of the
privy are pumped out.
G. The failure of a landowner to permit inspection of privy or equipment
of facilities used in connection with the privy, or the failure of
the landowner to have the privy properly maintained and pumped out,
or the failure of the landowner to furnish pumping receipts to the
Township in a timely fashion, shall be grounds for immediate revocation
of permit.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this
article, or who fails to act in compliance with 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.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of §
223-19 above shall constitute a nuisance and shall be abated by the municipality or the Authority by either seeking mitigation of the nuisance or appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.
This article is effective this 16th day of July A.D., 1990,
by the Supervisors of Charleston Township of Tioga County, in lawful
session duly assembled.