[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Richland 7-22-1980 by Ord. No. 120. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Richland Township Sanitary Board
Rules and Regulations Ordinance."
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases shall
be construed throughout this chapter to have the meanings herein indicated:
The Richland Township Sanitary Board.
A person or persons who use or occupy a building or structure whether
as owner or tenant. A tenant who uses a part of a building or structure shall
be deemed the occupant of that part of which he has actual or constructive
possession. The owner, agent or other person having custody or control of
a building or structure shall be deemed an occupant of that part that is vacant
for common usage of two or more tenants.
The agent operating and managing the building or structure, as well
as the legal owner.
Any organism (plant or animal) that adversely influences the health
or best interests of man. Pests of special significance in this light are:
Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout); black rats, Rattus rattus linnaeus;
house mice, Mus musculus linnaeus; pigeons, Columba livia gmelin; the housefly,
Musca domestica linnaeus; mosquitoes, Culicidae; and ragweeds of the genus
Ambrosia, family compositae.
Any person or company who engages for compensation in the act of
controlling pests.
A place that provides shelter or protection for pests and favorable
conditions for their breeding.
Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying,
repelling or mitigating any insects, rodents, fungi, weeds or other pests.
The person employed by the Richland Township Sanitary Board who is designated as the Sanitary Officer for the purposes outlined in Chapter 62, Sanitary Board.
Whenever a complaint of a dangerous or unsanitary health condition related
to rodents or other pests, or disease organisms borne by pest species, is
reported to the Sanitary Board of Richland Township, the Sanitary Officer
shall make an investigation of the same and shall seek advice from specialists
or from the Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection
or Health as to the necessity and means of dealing with the complaint within
30 days after the complaint has been received.
Whenever the Sanitary Board of the Township of Richland has received a complaint as set forth in § 148-3 of this chapter, and as a result of the investigation by the Sanitary Board Officer has determined that a building, structure and/or premises represents a pest harborage, it shall serve a notice upon the owner or any other persons in possession of said building, structure or premises, stating the complaint and that they have determined that the same constitutes a pest harborage and shall require the owner or persons in possession of the same to show cause, if any they have, at time and place specified, not to exceed 30 days thereafter, why it should not be determined that said condition is a health menace and constitutes a public nuisance. The owner and/or persons in possession of said building, structure or premises have a right to file an answer to the complaint and to appear in person or otherwise and give such testimony at such hearing as they so desire. The Board shall hear the answer to such complaint and shall make a determination whether or not the condition constitutes a public nuisance by reason of the pest infestation. If the Board determines that such a building, structure or premises constitutes a public nuisance by reason of a pest infestation, the Board shall order the owner and/or persons in possession of said premises to abate the same within a specified period of time. If the owner and or persons in possession fail to comply with said order by the date specified, then the Board may employ pest control operators to abate such nuisance and they shall have the right to enter upon private premises for such purposes, and the costs of the same may be placed upon the owner and/or person in possession of such premises and the Board shall have the right to file a lien for the costs of abating such nuisance in the same manner as other township liens are filed and collected as now provided by law.
It shall be the responsibility of the citizens of Richland Township
to request the Sanitary Board of the township to undertake an investigation
of the pest problem that any citizen considers to be a health hazard; such
complaint must be in writing and bear the signatures of five or more residents
and taxpayers of the Township of Richland, and such complaint shall contain
all of the relevant facts relating to the pest control problem. Such complaint
shall be presented the Sanitary Board of said township at any of its regular
meetings.
It shall be the responsibility of all pest control operators and others
using pesticides in Richland Township to follow label recommendations approved
by the United States Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is suggested that those using pesticides
with which they are unfamiliar should contact their State Agricultural Experiment
Station or their county farm agent for instructions on the safe use of such
materials.
A.
No pest control operator or other person shall use potentially
explosive pesticides for pest control within any building or structure without
first notifying the township police official and the Fire Department.
B.
No pest control operator or other persons shall undertake
a pest control program without observing proper precautions. These precautions
shall include notifying persons having immediate charge and/or occupants of
a building, structure or premises of the pesticide used; marking containers
"Poison" when they contain a hazardous pesticide; accounting for all poison
containers upon completion of a treatment; disposal of all empty and partially
used poison containers so that they pose no hazard to humans, animals or other
valuable plants; and closing and posting buildings, structures and premises
with warning signs that are undergoing treatment with hazardous pesticides.
The duly appointed representatives of the Sanitary Board of Richland Township have a right to inspect a building, structure or premises reported to be a pest harborage as described in § 148-5 of this chapter. A pest control operator employed by the Supervisors of Richland Township to abate a pest infestation shall have the right to carry out the necessary remedial program without interference from owners or occupants. The township police officials shall make the necessary legal arrangements if they are required.
From and after the passage of this chapter, no person or municipality
shall cause or permit to exist upon land which he or it owns, or cause to
exist upon public lands, or lands which are leased or occupied, any nuisance
declared to be illegal by the various ordinances of the Township of Richland,
including but not limited to accumulations of garbage and rubbish, the carrying
on of offensive manufacturing or business, the maintenance of a building or
structure built or located in violation of the provisions of the ordinance
relating to buildings and other structures within the township, and excavation
incident thereto.
It shall be the duty of any person creating a nuisance or responsible
for the creation of a nuisance, or any owner of land upon which a nuisance
exists, to remove such nuisance upon notice by the Sanitary Officer to do
so.
A person having the duty to remove a nuisance under the provisions of
this chapter shall, upon failure to do so within a reasonable time after notice
has been given by the Sanitary Officer, be liable to the township for the
costs of removal of such nuisance, and, upon conviction in a summary proceeding
brought before a District Justice under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal
Procedure, shall be guilty of a summary offense punishable by a fine of not
more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof,
the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90
days. Each day or portion thereof that such violation continues or is permitted
to continue shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this
chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense.
The Township Sanitary Board is further authorized, in addition to the
penalties above provided, to institute appropriate actions or proceedings
at law or in equity to prevent and restrain and to abate any nuisance in the
township.
The township hereby enacts and ordains, and adopts as part of this chapter,
the Pennsylvania Public Health Act, being the Act of May 23, 1945, P.L. 926,
as amended.[1] In addition to the definitions as set forth in the Act, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section,
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
The Pennsylvania Public Health Act, the Act of May 23, 1945, P.L.
926, as amended.
The rules and regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection, Title 25, Chapter 151, cited as 25 Pa. Code § 151.1 et seq.
The Township of Richland, County of Cambria, Pennsylvania.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 655.1 et seq.
The township shall have the right of inspection to determine compliance
with the terms of this Act. The Township Sanitary Board shall from time to
time designate and appoint an inspector who shall carry out the inspection
in accordance with this chapter, with this Act and also with the rules and
regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental
Protection, which are incorporated herein.
[Amended 11-30-1981 by Ord.
No. 140]
The township hereby enacts and ordains, and adopts as part of this chapter, the rules and regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection, Title 25, Chapter 151, issued under the Act of the 23rd day of May 1945, as amended, P.L. 926, known as "An Act for the protection of the public health by regulating the conduct and operations of public eating and drinking places within this commonwealth; requiring the licensing; imposing certain duties on the Department of Health of this commonwealth and on local health authorities; and providing penalties." All such rules, regulations and standards are incorporated in this chapter by reference. The Township further hereby enacts, ordains and adopts as part of the ordinance, the Rules and Regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection, Title 25, Part I, Subpart D, Article VI, Chapter 243, issued under AC Sections 1917-A and 1920-A (71 P.S. §§ 510-17 and 510-20) adopted November 5, 1971, effective December 1, 1971, 1 Pa. B. 2162.
The township shall have the power to institute in the Court of Common
Pleas of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, proceedings in law or in equity to
restrain any and all violations of the Act and the provisions of this chapter.
Such proceedings shall be instituted in the name of the Township of Richland.
Any person, as defined in the Act or the rules and regulations, who
shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter or the Act or the rules,
regulations or standards promulgated hereunder, or who resist or interfere
with any officer, agent or employee of the township in the performance of
his duties, shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before
a District Justice under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be
guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more
than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the
defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days.
Each day or portion thereof that such violation continues or is permitted
to continue shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this
chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense.
