[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Newstead 5-10-1999
by L.L. No. 1-1999 (Ch. 94 of the 1988 Code). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as "Local Law No. 1 of the Year 1999," entitled
"Wastewater Treatment Law of the Town of Newstead."
Wastewater facilities and their operation can significantly affect the
quality of life within the Town of Newstead (the "Town"). The Town recognizes
the need to regulate the pretreatment, treatment and transmission of wastewater
within the Town in order to preserve and protect the health, safety, welfare
and comfort of the residents of the Town. By regulating these facilities,
the Town will help to limit the problems associated with these facilities
by providing for initial reviews of proposed facilities prior to or after
their construction and the establishment of standards for their operation,
for periodic inspection of their operations and for penalties for noncompliance
with the standards as so established. This chapter will regulate all wastewater
facilities as defined hereafter in this chapter and require that all new wastewater
facilities register prior to commencement of operations and that all existing
wastewater facilities be registered within six months after the effective
date of this chapter.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
The fees imposed by the Town for the purpose of regulating wastewater
in the Town, which fees shall be set by the Town Board by resolution from
time to time and which fees are intended to defray all costs to the Town for
regulating such wastewater, including engineering, legal, testing and monitoring
fees.
Those penalties imposed for violation of Chapter 409, Wastewater Treatment Facilities, of the Code of the Town of Newstead, which shall include penalties for failure to register under the law as well as failure to comply with the standards set for the individual wastewater facility as part of the registration process.
Registration of the wastewater facility with the Town of Newstead
and shall include the establishment of performance and other standards for
the wastewater facility which shall be included as part of the registration.
All wastewater from a wastewater facility as defined above, including,
but not limited to, wastewater discharged from residential, commercial or
industrial structures within the Town, excluding wastewater discharged from
Sewer District No. 1.
A facility or facilities whose purpose is the pretreatment, treatment,
storage and/or transmission of wastewater, but shall exclude treatment facilities
constructed for the on-site treatment of wastewater for one- and two-family
residential structures and commercial buildings that discharge less than 2,500
gallons of waste per day consisting of ordinary domestic waste (human waste,
kitchen, sink, baths etc.) only with no other components included in the waste
stream, and farm operations.
A.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all existing
wastewater facilities within the Town and any future wastewater facilities
hereafter constructed within the Town. The wastewater facilities, subject
to limitations as set forth in the definitions, shall include all residential,
commercial and industrial facilities that treat wastewater streams that include
human waste, nonhuman animal waste and other waste excluding noncontact cooling
water. The wastewater facilities regulated under this chapter shall include
both pretreatment facilities that transmit pretreated waste off site to other
treatment facilities and final treatment facilities that discharge into the
environment or at other locations (landfill, etc.), storage facilities and
transmission facilities that merely transmit waste within the Town.
B.
The regulations imposed by the Town shall apply whether
or not such facilities may be regulated by other municipalities or higher
governmental agencies; provided, however, in the case of facilities regulated
by higher government agencies, the standards imposed by the Town shall be
at least as stringent as those standards imposed by such higher governmental
agencies.
A.
All existing wastewater facilities as defined by this chapter shall be required to register with the Town within six months after the effective date of this chapter. If any such facility shall fail to register within such six-month period, such facility shall immediately be ordered to shut down and cease all operations. Penalties for failure to comply with this provision shall be assessed in accordance with the fee and penalty schedule set forth in § 409-7 and will be imposed on a daily basis for each day such facility operates without properly registering with the Town.
B.
Registration shall be handled through the office of the
Code Enforcement Officer of the Town. As part of the registration process,
the applicant must submit a complete listing of the products that are to be
treated or pretreated in the facility or transmitted to another location and
proposed standards for the operation of such facility. The Town may employ
the services of a qualified expert in treatment and/or pretreatment to evaluate
the proposed standard submitted by the applicant, at the applicant's cost.
Based upon such review and in consultation with representatives of the applicant,
performance standards for treatment and/or pretreatment shall be established
and made a part of the registration and kept on file with the Code Enforcement
Officer of the Town. Because of variations in the types of wastes to be treated,
the standards are not intended to be uniform, but instead are intended to
be specifically adopted and applicable only to that particular facility, except
that standards for facilities of the same general type and size shall not
be significantly more stringent than standards set for other similar facilities
within the Town. Standards may include, among other things, factors such as
odors, concentration of various components, BOD content, and other matters.
The Town reserves the right to require that applicants provide a maintenance
bond for their wastewater facilities.
C.
Because existing wastewater facilities will be required
to register within six months of the effective date of this chapter, such
facilities will be required to submit the information necessary to establish
the standards for operation of the wastewater facilities within four months
of the effective date of this chapter to allow the registration to occur at
the end of such six-month period and standards for operation to be established.
If registration and the establishment of standards do not occur within such
six-month period, such facilities will have to immediately shut down at the
end of such six-month period. The Town Board may, upon written request, grant
an extension of time to supply the information necessary to establish the
standards of operation and to complete the registration.
D.
Following the initial registration of a wastewater facility,
such registration shall be valid until February 1 of the following year. Thereafter
registration shall be subject to renewal on an annual basis on February 1
of each year, it being the intention of this chapter that all wastewater facilities
within the Town will be subject to annual renewal on February 1 of each year.
Wastewater facilities that do not operate in accordance with the standards
imposed at the time of the initial registration shall not be renewed until
such facility comes into compliance with such standards or unless the Town
agrees to review and revise the standards, in its reasonable discretion.
E.
Any new wastewater facility proposed in the Town that
will be subject to this chapter must be registered before the issuance of
a building permit for the construction of such facility. If the facility is
not subject to receipt of a building permit, such facility will need to be
registered prior to start-up of operations.
A.
All wastewater facilities regulated under this chapter
shall be subject to inspection prior to start-up if a new facility or at the
time of registration if an existing facility and shall be inspected at least
once per year prior to the renewal of the registration. Inspection fees shall
be in accordance with the schedule established by the Town Board by resolution
and are intended to cover the actual costs of the Town in conducting the inspection
and making any required tests.
B.
Inspections shall also occur upon receipt of complaints
from the public. If complaints appear to be justified, the Town may require
additional information from the owner or operator of the facility. If such
facility appears to be operating in accordance with the standards established
at the time of initial registration, but the operations, even in accordance
with such standards, appears to adversely affect the health, safety, welfare
and comfort of neighboring residences or commercial structures, the operating
standards shall be subject to review at the time of renewal of the registration,
and may be modified to address such problems.
C.
Wastewater facilities regulated by this chapter that are found to not be operating in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the standards established by such facility under this chapter shall be cited as being in violation and shall have 30 days to correct the problem and come into compliance. After 30 days, penalties shall begin to accrue on a daily basis for noncompliance in accordance with § 409-7 hereof. Penalties may be waived by the Town Board if it is established to the Town Board's reasonable satisfaction that the owner or operator is using reasonable efforts to place the facility in compliance and that the failure to bring the facility into compliance is due to exceptional circumstances such as technical difficulties or circumstances beyond the control of the owner or operator such as a failure that cannot reasonably be expected to be repaired within a thirty-day period.
A.
All wastewater facilities covered by this chapter shall,
except for the initial six-month period following the effective date in the
case of existing facilities, shall operate in accordance with the standards
established for such facilities.
B.
Except as expressly otherwise provided herein, for each
day a facility, covered by this chapter, is not in compliance, such facility
shall be subject to a fine in accordance with this chapter.
C.
Upon notification of the owner or operator that the wastewater
facility is in violation, after the applicable grace period, in addition to
penalties for noncompliance that shall be assessed on a daily basis, such
facility may be compelled to shut down and cease operations until the facility
is placed in compliance with the standards established for such facility.
A.
Each existing wastewater facility required to register
under the Wastewater Treatment Law of the Town of Newstead that fails to register
within six months of the effective date of the Wastewater Treatment Law and
each new wastewater facility that fails to register shall be subject to a
penalty of $10 per day for the first 30 days after the date such registration
is required. Thereafter the penalties shall be increased to $100 per day for
the next 30 days. At the end of 60 days following the date that registration
was required, the penalties shall increase to $1,000 per day. In addition
to such fine, any offense shall be punishable by a term of imprisonment not
to exceed 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
B.
Each wastewater facility that is not operated in accordance with the Wastewater Treatment Law and the standards established for it under the law shall pay a penalty of $100 per day for each day the facility is not in compliance following the initial thirty-day period provided under the Wastewater Treatment Law to correct the problem and for 30 days thereafter. If the problem is not corrected within 60 days from the date the facility is deemed not to be in compliance, the penalty per day shall be increased to $1,000 per day. Penalties may be waived by the Town Board as set forth in § 409-6 above. In addition to such fine, any offense shall be punishable by a term of imprisonment not to exceed 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Notice of violations shall be sent to the address set forth on the registration
form by certified or registered mail or may be personally served upon the
owner or operator or, in the case of a corporation, any officer of such corporation.
In the case of service by certified or registered mail, notice shall be deemed
to be received within five days of the mailing of notice. If the owner or
operator shall change the mailing address, notice of such change must be filed
with the Town. Notice to the address listed on the registration shall be deemed
to be the proper address for purpose of service of notice of violations.
