[Adopted 3-23-1982]
[Amended 11-10-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-17; 11-10-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-20]
For the purpose of this article, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings stated herein unless their use in the text of this chapter clearly demonstrates a different meaning. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words used in the plural number include the singular number, and words used in the singular number include the plural number. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory. The definitions below are the same as or based on corresponding definitions in the New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) rules at N.J.A.C. 7:14A 1.2.
BUILDING
Any building or structure designed for temporary or permanent use or occupancy by persons and which is connected, directly or indirectly, with the system.
COMMERCIAL OR INDUSTRIAL WASTE
All waste other than waste generated by residential dwellings, office buildings, retail sales and service establishments, churches or similar uses.
COMMERCIAL USER
Each building designed or used for anything other than residential use, without regard to the number of house connections from such building to the system.
DOMESTIC SEWAGE
Waste and wastewater from humans or household operations.
ILLICIT CONNECTION
Any physical or nonphysical connection that discharges domestic sewage, noncontact cooling water, process wastewater or other industrial waste (other than stormwater) to the municipal separate storm sewer system operated by the Township of South Hackensack, unless that discharge is authorized under a NJPDES permit other than the Tier A Municipal Stormwater General Permit (NJPDES Permit Number NJ0141852). Nonphysical connections may include, but are not limited to, leaks, flows or overflows into the municipal separate storm sewer system.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Nondomestic waste, including, but not limited to, those pollutants regulated under Section 307(a), (b) or (c) of the Federal Clean Water Act [33 U.S.C. § 1317(a), (b), or (c)].
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM (MS4)
A conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, manmade channels or storm drains) that is owned or operated by the Township of South Hackensack or other public body and is designed and used for collecting and conveying stormwater.
NJPDES PERMIT
A permit issued by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to implement the New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) rules at N.J.A.C. 7:14A
NONCONTACT COOLING WATER
Water used to reduce temperature for the purpose of cooling. Such waters do not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product (other than heat) or finished product. Noncontact cooling water may, however, contain algaecides or biocides to control fouling of equipment such as heat exchangers, and/or corrosion inhibitors.
PERSON
Any individual, corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or political subdivision of this state subject to municipal jurisdiction.
PROCESS WASTEWATER
Any water which, during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results from the production or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, by-product or waste product. Process wastewater includes, but is not limited to, leachate and cooling water other than noncontact cooling water.
RESIDENTIAL USER
Each building or each part thereof designated for or used as a residence or abode by a single family without regard to the number of house connections from such building to the system. Each single family using said building shall be considered a separate "residential user."
SERVICE CHARGE
The charge herein imposed for the use, services and availability of the system upon the owners of the buildings served or which could be served thereby.
STORMWATER
Water resulting from precipitation (including rain and snow) that runs off the land's surface, is transmitted to the subsurface, is captured by separate storm sewers or other sewerage or drainage facilities or is conveyed by snow removal equipment.
SYSTEM
The sanitary sewerage system constructed, owned or operated by the Township or such system constructed, owned or operated by another municipality the use of which has been provided by this Township, either of which serves for the collection and disposal of sanitary sewage and other wastes.
[Amended 8-10-2000 by Ord. No. 10-00]
A. 
Permits may be granted by the Plumbing Subcode Official to make connections with the sewer system for the discharge of industrial or commercial waste consisting of water or other fluid that will not deposit a sediment or other obstruction, and which will also conform to the rules and regulations, now or hereafter established by the Township of South Hackensack and the Bergen County Utilities Authority, concerning the receipt and the treatment of industrial or commercial waste, as well as each and all of the provisions of this Article, as well as the rules and regulations now or hereafter established by the Bergen County Utilities Authority, concerning the receipt and the treatment of industrial or commercial waste. A written application for such permit shall be made to the Plumbing Subcode Official upon forms provided for that purpose, and the applicant shall pay the fee established by ordinance to cover examination and processing thereof, which application shall, among other things, state:
(1) 
The full name and address of the applicant; if the applicant is a partnership, the full names and addresses of all the partners shall be stated; if a corporation, that fact shall be stated.
(2) 
The nature of the business or industry of the applicant.
(3) 
The location and dimensions of the premises upon which the business or industry is to be or is carried on, together with a simple plot plan showing the several boundary lines of the property and the location and dimensions of all buildings thereon.
(4) 
The character, chemical content and physical and chemical properties of the industrial or commercial waste proposed to be deposited in the sewer system.
(5) 
The approximate quantity of industrial or commercial waste to be deposited in said system per day.
(6) 
The hours of each day during which said industrial or commercial waste will be deposited in said sewer system.
(7) 
Where practicable, data indicating the hours of peak, minimum and mean flow of such industrial or commercial waste into said sewer systems.
(8) 
Such other or further information or data as the Plumbing Subcode Official may from time to time require.
B. 
The Plumbing Subcode Official shall determine the terms and conditions, if any, for the granting of said permit to deposit industrial or commercial waste in said sewer system (should such applicant's application be approved by it), and each and all of such terms and conditions shall be placed on a written permit to be issued.
C. 
Any significant changes in the quantity, character, chemical content or in the physical or chemical properties of the industrial or commercial waste of any holder of a special permit granted under this Article which occur after a permit has been granted or which occur in the interval between the filing of the application for a permit and the issuance of same shall be forthwith reported in writing to the Plumbing Subcode Official.
Any person, firm or corporation which is at the effective date of this Article already depositing industrial or commercial wastes into the sewer system of the Township of South Hackensack shall, within 30 days following written request from the Plumbing Subcode Official, file with said Official a written application for a permit to continue to do so, which application shall contain the matters and things specified in § 180-8 hereof.
The granting of a permit by the Plumbing Subcode Official to discharge industrial or commercial waste into said sewer system in any one or more instances shall not be construed in such ways as to establish a precedent binding upon said Plumbing Subcode Official which will compel him or her to grant future applications for a permit to discharge the same or similar industrial or commercial waste into said sewer system, but instead such permit may be modified or revoked at any time in addition to any causes for modification or revocation contained herein by the Plumbing Subcode Official when it is determined by it that the terms and conditions of said permit have been violated or that the licensee's deposits in said sewer system will overburden its capacity or impair its operation to the detriment of other users of said sewer system. In addition, such permit may be modified or revoked for any other cause deemed good and sufficient therefor by said Plumbing Subcode Official. Except under emergency conditions, no permit will be revoked without a hearing into the facts concerning the situation leading to the proposed action.
[Amended 3-17-1983; 3-31-1989; 6-26-1989; 3-21-1996 by Ord. No. 96-1(a)]
A. 
All users of the sanitary sewer system of the Township which, for the purpose of this article of this chapter, includes the facilities of other municipalities the use of which is provided by this Township under a contract with another municipality, shall pay a fee for the discharge of wastes in that sanitary sewer system. Excepted from this fee, however, shall be single users under intermunicipal contracts, the terms of which provide otherwise. Said fee shall be based either upon the total cubic feet of water consumed upon the particular premises of the user as determined by water meter readings and/or well meter readings or upon the total cubic feet of waste deposited into the system as determined by a sanitary sewer meter if the user provides the same and maintains it in accordance with the reasonable regulations of the Superintendent of Public Works to assure its accuracy or by such other means as hereinafter provided. Such fee shall be paid in accordance with the schedule provided in Chapter 108, entitled "Fees."
[Amended 12-19-1996 by Ord. No. 96-14; 8-10-2000 by Ord. No. 10-00]
B. 
The fee for all users, including residential, commercial and well users, shall be calculated and billed annually and shall be payable to the Tax Collector in four quarterly installments due on February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1, at the place where real property taxes are paid; the failure to bill for such charges shall not relieve the owner of any property subject to this charge from the obligation to pay such charges as provided herein. The Tax Collector shall charge upon any delinquent account of such sewer user charge interest and penalties at the same rate and in the same amounts as may then be charged against delinquent accounts of municipal taxes pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-67 and the resolutions of the Township Committee adopted pursuant thereto, if required, as though those accounts for sewer user charges were separate accounts of municipal taxes. At such time as the Tax Collector may hereafter choose, all accounts of sewer user charges levied under this chapter may be added to the account for municipal taxes charges against the respective property and, at such time as all of such accounts are so merged, the Collector may thereafter add delinquencies in accounts for sewer user charges to municipal tax accounts for the same property and treat delinquencies in both cumulatively for the purpose of calculating interest and penalties under N.J.S.A. 54:4-67.
[Amended 4-12-2001 by Ord. No. 6-01]
C. 
Timing or scheduling of biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids sampling/testing. The surcharge for biochemical oxygen demand and suspended solids in industrial users will be based upon a minimum of one sample per quarter or the average of all samples of that quarter. Based on those results, the Township shall allocate to the user any or all surcharges billed by the Bergen County Utility Authority or other entity treating the effluent.
[Added 6-23-2000 by Ord. No. 4-00]
D. 
Testing procedures. All measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes, to which reference is made above, shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition of "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Sewage" published by the American Public Health Association or its equivalent, and shall be determined at the control manhole designated by the Municipal Engineer and upon notice to the industrial user or, at the option of the Township, upon suitable samples taken at another location. The Township can share information or samples with an industrial user in the spirit of cooperation. In the event that no special manhole has been required, the control manhole shall be considered to be the nearest downstream manhole in the public sewer to the point at which the building sewer is connected.
[Added 6-23-2000 by Ord. No. 4-00]
E. 
In the event that any fee charged shall remain unpaid for a period of 30 days from the date it shall become due, the deposits or said wastes into the sewer system shall be discontinued. All bills paid beyond the period of 10 days after they are due shall be paid, together with interest, at the same rate as due upon real property in the Township of South Hackensack and shall be a lien upon lands and buildings thereon until paid. The Township shall have the same remedies for the collection thereof with interests, costs and penalties as it has by law for the collection of taxes on the real property.
[Amended 3-17-1983; 12-19-1996 by Ord. No. 96-14]
The owner of a property on which there is located a privately owned water well which is connected to a water system that is eventually discharged into a sanitary sewer system of the Township must install and maintain a sanitary sewer meter at the point of discharge into the sanitary sewer system of the Township for the computation of the sewer rental fee for such property. Such meter shall be of type and design approved by the Department of Public Works and shall be installed by the owner at his or her own cost and expense on or before June 30, 1983.
Should the Plumbing Subcode Official revoke a permit to discharge industrial or commercial waste into the sewer system, the discharge of such industrial or commercial waste therein by the person, firm or corporation affected by such revocation shall be immediately discontinued and shall not thereafter be resumed. Any person, firm or corporation who or which discharges industrial or commercial waste into the sewer system after such revocation shall, for each day on which such discharge occurs, be deemed to be guilty of a separate violation of this Article and shall be separately punished for each such violation.
Should the Plumbing Subcode Official modify a permit to discharge industrial or commercial waste into the sewer system, the subsequent discharge of industrial or commercial waste therein by the person, firm or corporation affected by such modification shall be in strict conformity with such modification or modifications. Any person, firm or corporation who or which discharges industrial or commercial waste into the Township sewer system after modification of such permit in violation of the terms of such permit as modified shall, for each day on which such a discharge occurs, be deemed to be guilty of a separate violation of this article and shall be separately punished for each such violation.
Disposal into the sewer system by any person shall not be permitted unless the waste material is in compliance with standards promulgated pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Act of 1972, as amended, plus any more stringent standards promulgated by the State of New Jersey, Township of South Hackensack and the Bergen County Utilities Authority.
[Amended 11-10-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-17]
The spilling, dumping or disposal of materials other than stormwater to the municipal separate storm sewer system operated by the Township of South Hackensack is prohibited. The spilling, dumping or disposal of materials other than stormwater in such a manner as to cause the discharge of pollutants to the municipal separate storm sewer system is also prohibited.
[Added 11-10-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-17]
The following are exceptions to prohibited discharges:
A. 
Water line flushing and discharges from potable water sources.
B. 
Uncontaminated ground water (e.g., infiltration, crawl space or basement sump pumps, foundation or footing drains, rising ground waters).
C. 
Air-conditioning condensate (excluding contact and noncontact cooling water).
D. 
Irrigation water (including landscape and lawn watering runoff).
E. 
Flows from springs, riparian habitats and wetlands, water reservoir discharges and diverted stream flows.
F. 
Residential car washing water and residential swimming pool discharges.
G. 
Sidewalk, driveway and street wash water.
H. 
Flows from fire-fighting activities.
I. 
Flows from rinsing of the following equipment with clean water:
(1) 
Equipment used in the application of salt and de icing materials immediately following salt and de icing material applications. Prior to rinsing with clean water, all residual salt and de icing materials must be removed from equipment and vehicles to the maximum extent practicable using dry cleaning methods (e.g., shoveling and sweeping). Recovered materials are to be returned to storage for reuse or properly discarded.
(2) 
Rinsing of equipment, as noted in the above situation, is limited to exterior, undercarriage and exposed parts and does not apply to engines or other enclosed machinery.
The control of all odors emanating from a building sewer shall at all times be the responsibility of the owner of the connection. Such person, firm or corporation shall take all necessary steps to eliminate undue odors at their source or to install means and methods, such as traps, drafts, stacks, flap valves or other devices, to prevent the discharge of development of offensive odors within the sewers. The cost of such devices and all attendant expenses shall be borne solely by the owners of the premises.
Whenever it is claimed that the provisions of this Article do not apply or that the true intent and meaning of the Article has been misconstrued or that a decision of the Township official made hereunder has been an improper one, or for any other grievance arising hereunder, the aggrieved claimant may appeal the decision or the grievance in writing to the Township Committee, in which event the matter will be set down for a special hearing, at which time all interested persons shall present evidence relevant to the subject matter of such hearing. Notice of said hearing in writing shall be given to the aggrieved claimant at least 10 days in advance by mailing same to the claimant's last post office address. Appeals shall be made 45 days after the grievance arises or after the rendering of a decision by the Township official.
[Amended 12-19-1996 by Ord. No. 96-14; 2-14-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-02]
Any person firm, or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days, a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, or any combination thereof. Each day the same is violated shall be deemed and taken to be a separate and distinct offense.