[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of West Milford as Sec. 19-13 of the 1976 Revised General Ordinances. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and cited as the "Air Pollution Control
Code of the Township of West Milford."
It is hereby declared that air pollution is a menace to the health,
welfare and comfort of the residents of the Township and a cause of substantial
damage to property. For the purpose of preventing and reducing atmospheric
pollution, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Township to minimize
air pollution as herein defined and to establish standards governing the installation,
maintenance and operation of equipment and appurtenances relating to combustion,
which is a source, or potential source, of air pollution.
The following terms wherever used herein or referred to in this code
shall have the respective meanings assigned to them unless a different meaning
clearly appears from the context:
Solid particles, liquid particles, vapors or gases which are discharged
into the outdoor atmosphere.
The presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one or more air contaminants
in such quantities and duration as are, or tend to be, injurious to human
health or welfare, animal or plant life or property, or would unreasonably
interfere with the enjoyment of life or property.
Actinolite, amositi, anthophyllite, chrysotile, crocidolite, tremolite.
Equipment in which heat from the combustion of fuel is transferred
to a substance being heated so that the latter is contacted by the products
of combustion and may contribute to the total effluent.
The person or persons who are authorized by this chapter to exercise
the powers prescribed by this code.
Those chemicals used as insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides,
nematocides or defoliants.
Any material which can be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder
by hand pressure.
Solid, liquid or gaseous materials used to produce useful heat by
burning.
Waste animal or vegetable matter from houses, kitchens, restaurants,
hotels, produce markets or any other source, or food of any kind to be thrown
away.
Any device, apparatus, equipment or structure used for destroying,
reducing or salvaging by fire any material or substance, including but not
limited to refuse, rubbish, garbage, trade waste, debris or scrap; or a facility
for cremating human or animal remains.
Equipment in which heat from the combustion of fuel is transferred
by conduction through a heat-conducting material to a substance being heated,
so that the latter is not contacted by and adds nothing to the products of
combustion.
Any maximum linear perpendicular distance from an inside wall of
a stack or chimney to the inside of an opposite wall, such as the diameter
of a circular cross section, or the length or width of a rectangular cross
section.
Particles which have volume but are not of rigid shape and which,
upon collection, tend to coalesce and create uniform homogenous films upon
the surface of the collecting media.
Any action, operation or treatment embracing chemical, industrial,
manufacturing or processing factors, methods or forms, including, but not
limited to, furnaces, kettles, ovens, converters, cupolas, kilns, crucibles,
stills, dryers, roaster, crushers, grinders, mixers, reactors, regenerators,
separators, filters, reboilers, columns, classifers, screens, quenchers, cookers,
digesters, towers, washers, scrubbers, mills, condensers or absorbers.
Includes all vehicles propelled otherwise than by muscle power, excepting
such vehicles as run only upon rails or tracks.
The property of a substance which affects the sense of smell.
The property of a substance which renders it partially or wholly
obstructive to the transmission of visible light expressed as the percentage
to which the light is obstructed.
Any fire wherein the products of combustion are emitted into the
open air and are not directed thereto through a stack or chimney of an incinerator.
Any person who has care, custody, or control of a building or premises,
or a portion thereof, whether with or without knowledge of the owner thereof.
Air space outside of buildings, stacks or exterior ducts.
Any person who, alone or jointly, or severally with others, shall
have legal or equitable title to any premises, with or without accompanying
actual possession thereof; or shall have charge or control of any dwelling
or dwelling unit, as owner or agent of the owner, or as fiduciary, including
but not limited to executor, executrix, administrator, administratrix, trustee,
receiver or guardian of the estate; or as a mortgagee in possession regardless
of how such possession was obtained. Any person who is a lessee subletting
or reassigning any part or all of any dwelling or dwelling unit shall be deemed
to be a co-owner with the lessor and shall have a joint responsibility over
the portion of the premises sublet or assigned by such lessee.
Any material, except uncombined water, which exists in finely divided
form as liquid particles or solid particles at standard conditions.
Corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships
and joint-stock companies, as well as individuals, and shall also include
all political subdivisions of this state or any agencies or instrumentalities
thereof.
Vegetation, including but not limited to trees, tree branches, leaves,
yard trimmings, shrubbery, grass, weeds and crops.
Rubbish, garbage, trade waste and plant life.
Ringelmann's Scale for Grading the Density of Smoke, as published
by the United States Bureau of Mines, or any chart, recorder, indicator or
device which is approved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
as the equivalent of the Ringelmann's Scale for the measurement of smoke density.
Waste solids not considered to be highly flammable or explosive,
including but not limited to rags, old clothes, leather, rubber, carpets,
wood, excelsior, papers, ashes, furniture, tin cans, glass, crockery, masonry
and other similar materials.
Any operation or activity from which is salvaged or reclaimed any
product or material, including but not limited to metals, chemicals or shipping
containers.
Small gasborne or airborne particles, exclusive of water vapor, arising
from a process of combustion in sufficient number to be observable.
Particles of rigid shape and definite volume.
Any manufacturing process or any identifiable part thereof emitting
an air contaminant into the outdoor atmosphere through one or more stacks
or chimneys.
A flue, conduit or opening designed and constructed for the purpose
of emitting air contaminants into the outdoor air.
70° F. and one atmosphere pressure, 14.7 psia or 760 mm Hg.
All waste solid or liquid material or rubbish resulting from construction,
building operations, or the prosecution of any business, trade or industry,
including but not limited to plastic products, cartons, paint, grease, oil
and other petroleum products, chemicals, cinders and other forms of solid
or liquid waste material.
Smoke which obscures light to a degree readily discernible by visual
observation.
No person or owner of property, or person or persons having possession
or control thereof, shall cause, suffer, allow or permit to be emitted into
the open air substances in such quantities as shall result in air pollution.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to the use of economic poisons.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit:
The provisions of § 57-5 shall not apply to:
A.
Variances approved and issued by the New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:27-2 of the New
Jersey Administrative Code.
B.
Open burning of refuse for training or research exercises
when conducted at a permanent facility or training center designed to be used
solely for such purposes on a continuing basis.
A.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit visible smoke to be emitted into the outdoor air from combustion of fuel in any stationary indirect heat exchanger except as provided in Subsection B hereof.
B.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit smoke,
the shade or appearance of which is darker than No. 1 on the Ringelmann Smoke
Chart, or greater than 20% opacity, exclusive of water vapor, to be emitted
into the outdoor air from the combustion of fuel in any stationary indirect
heat exchanger having a rated hourly capacity of 200 million Btu or greater
gross heat input, and discharging through a stack or chimney having all internal
cross sectional dimensions of 60 inches or greater.
D.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to direct
heat exchangers or manufacturing processes, or any motor vehicle while operating
on the public highways.
E.
Any person responsible for the construction, installation,
alteration or use of an indirect heat exchanger shall, when requested by the
Director, provide the facilities and necessary for determining the density
or opacity of smoke being discharged into the open air.
A.
Hours of operation. No person shall operate or permit
the operation of an incinerator in the Township before 9:00 a.m. or after
5:00 p.m., including complete extinction of the fire and removal of materials
from the firebox to a noncombustible container and in a safe manner. The Director
may, by special permit, because of exceptional circumstances, permit different
hours of operation under such conditions as he shall deem necessary for the
health, safety and welfare of the public or of persons in the vicinity.
B.
Abatement of air pollution. Where the operation of an
incinerator constitutes an immediate and substantial menace to public health
and safety, or is a substantial source of air pollution causing irritation
and discomfort to persons in the vicinity, and the owner or operator fails
upon written or oral notice to take immediate corrective measures, the Director
may take all necessary measures to abate the condition, including, but not
limited to, ordering the cessation of use of the equipment and sealing the
same, pending a hearing in the Municipal Court.
C.
Prohibitions.
(1)
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit smoke
from any incinerator, the shade or appearance of which is darker than No.
1 of the Ringelmann Smoke Chart, to be emitted into the open air; or emissions
of such opacity within a stack or chimney, or, exclusive of water vapor, of
such opacity leaving a stack or chimney to a degree greater than the emission
designated as No. 1 of the Ringelmann Smoke Chart.
(2)
The provisions of Subsection C(1) shall not apply to smoke emitted during the building of a new fire, the shade or appearance of which is not greater than No. 2 of the Ringelmann Smoke Chart, for a period of three consecutive minutes; or emissions of such opacity within a stack or chimney, or, exclusive of water vapor, of such opacity leaving a stack or chimney to a degree greater than the emission designated as No. 2 of the Ringelmann Smoke Chart, for a period no greater than three consecutive minutes.
(3)
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the emission
of particles of unburned waste or ash from any incinerator which are individually
large enough to be visible while suspended in the atmosphere.
(4)
No person shall construct, install, use or cause to be
used any incinerator which will result in odors being detectable by sense
of smell in any area of human use or occupancy.
A.
Prohibition. No person shall cause, suffer, allow or
permit surface coating by spraying on any building, structure, facility, installation
or internal or external portion thereof, asbestos or friable material containing
in excess of 0.25%, by weight, asbestos.
B.
Tests.
(1)
Conduct of tests. Any person responsible for the manufacture,
application or use of any coating which the Director, or any agent thereof,
has reason to believe contains asbestos shall, when requested by the Director,
conduct such tests as are necessary in the opinion of the Director to determine
the presence and the amount and/or kinds of asbestos in the coating. Such
tests shall be conducted in a manner approved by the Director and shall be
made at the expense of the person responsible.
(2)
Waiver of requirements. The Director may waive the testing requirements of Subsection B(1) of this section upon receipt of a materials specification report from the material manufacturer certifying that the asbestos content of the surface coating for which testing is required complies with the provisions of Subsection A hereof.
The Health Officer of the Township shall, in addition to his other duties,
enforce and administer the provisions of this code and, in exercising his
powers and duties hereunder, shall be known as the "Director of Air Pollution
Control." The Director may appoint or designate other employees or officers
of the Township to perform duties necessary for the enforcement of this code.
A.
Emergency inspections may be authorized without warrant
if the Director has reason to believe that a condition exists which poses
an immediate threat to life, health or safety. Such procedure shall only take
place where the time taken to apply for and secure the issuance of a warrant
would render ineffective the immediate action necessary to abate the condition.
B.
Emergency inspections may also be authorized by the Governor
in times of air pollution emergencies in accordance with N.J.S.A. 26:2C-32.
Where the Director or his agent is refused entry or access, or is otherwise
impeded or prevented by the owner, occupant or operator from conducting an
inspection of the premises, such person shall be in violation of this code
and subject to the penalties provided in this chapter.
A.
The Director may, upon affidavit, apply to the Judge
of the Township for a search warrant setting forth factually the actual conditions
under circumstances that provide a reasonable basis for believing that a violation
of the code may exist on the premises, including one or more of the following:
(1)
That the premises requires inspection according to the
cycle established by the Township for periodic inspections of premises of
the type involved.
(2)
That observation of external conditions (smoke, ash,
soot, odors) of the premises and its public areas has resulted in the belief
that violations of this code exist.
(3)
That circumstances such as age and design of fuel-burning
equipment and/or system, type of incinerator, particular use of premises or
other factors render systematic inspections of such buildings necessary in
the interest of public health and safety.
B.
If the Township Judge is satisfied as to the matter set
forth in the affidavit, he shall authorize the issuance of a search warrant
permitting access to and inspection of that part of the premises on which
the nuisance or violation may exist.
All buildings and premises subject to this code are subject to inspection
from time to time by the Director of Air Pollution Control or his duly authorized
representatives. All rooms and areas in the building shall be available and
accessible for such inspection which shall be made during usual business hours
if the premises is used for nonresidential purposes; provided, however, that
inspections may be made at other times if:
A.
The premises is not available during the foregoing hours
for inspection.
B.
There is reason to believe that violations are occurring
on the premises which can be determined and proved by inspection only during
other than the prescribed hours.
C.
There is reason to believe a violation exists of a character
which is an immediate threat to health or safety requiring inspection and
abatement without delay.
A.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of
this chapter, or who shall fail to comply therewith or with any of the requirements
thereof, shall be punishable, upon conviction, by a fine not exceeding $2,500,
imprisonment not exceeding 90 days and/or a period of community service not
exceeding 90 days, for each violation. Each day that such violation shall
continue shall constitute a separate offense.[1]
B.
The violation of any section of this code shall constitute
a separate and distinct offense independent of the violation of any other
section, or of any order issued pursuant to this code.
This code shall be liberally construed to effectuate the purpose herein
described. Nothing herein shall be construed as repealing or abridging the
emergency powers of any agency of government except to the extent expressly
set forth herein.
This chapter is promulgated and adopted in accordance with N.J.S.A.
26:2C-1 et seq., as amended; and nothing contained herein or any action taken
hereunder is to be interpreted as being in conflict with the New Jersey Air
Pollution Control Act and the New Jersey Administrative Code.
