[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council
of the Township of Lower Saucon 3-19-1986 by Ord. No. 86-2. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Amended 8-7-1991 by Ord. No. 91-3; 5-20-1998 by Ord. No. 98-17]
This chapter shall be known and cited as the
"Lower Saucon Township Municipal Solid Waste Ordinance," as amended
by the Recycling Ordinance for the Township of Lower Saucon.
[Added 8-7-1991 by Ord. No. 91-3]
The Council of the Township of Lower Saucon
has determined that the health and welfare of the citizens of the
Township of Lower Saucon requires the licensing of contractors engaged
in the collection of refuse in the Township and requires the establishment
of mandatory recycling collections by said contractors and enacts
this chapter to accomplish said objective. Nothing contained herein
shall prohibit or preclude licensed contractors from collecting additional
recyclables other than those contained herein in accordance with the
Recycling and Waste Reduction Act[1] and the additional ordinances and regulations of the Township
of Lower Saucon.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 4000.1501
et seq.
The following words and phrases, when used in
this chapter, shall have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise,
the meanings given to them in this section:
A person desirous of being authorized as a collector.
A person authorized to collect, transport and dispose of
municipal waste from Lower Saucon Township.
Any establishment engaged in a nonmanufacturing or nonprocessing
business, including but not limited to stores, markets, office buildings,
restaurants, shopping centers and theaters.
The incineration, deposition, injection, dumping, spilling,
leaking or placing of municipal waste into or on the land or water
in a manner that the waste or a constituent of the waste enters the
environment, is emitted into the air or is discharged to the waters
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Any site, facility, location, area or premises to be used
for the disposal of municipal waste.
All animal and vegetable wastes attending or resulting from
the handling, dealing, storing, preparation, cooking and consumption
of foods.
Any establishment engaged in manufacturing or processing,
including but not limited to factories, foundries, mills, processing
plants, refineries and the like.
Any establishment engaged in service to persons, including
but not limited to hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, schools and
universities.
The entire process or any part thereof of storage, collection,
transportation, processing, treatment and disposal of municipal waste
by any person engaging in such process.
Any garbage, refuse, industrial lunchroom or office waste
and other material including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained
gaseous material resulting from operation of residential, municipal,
commercial or institutional establishments and from community activities,
and any sludge not meeting the definition of residual or hazardous
waste from a municipal, commercial or institutional water supply treatment
plant, wastewater treatment plant or air-pollution control facility.
(Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act 97, Section 103[1]).
Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, institution,
cooperative enterprise, municipal authority, federal government or
agency, state institution and agency or any other legal entity whatsoever
which is recognized by law as being subject to the rights and duties
of a person.
Any technology used for the purpose of reducing the volume
or bulk of municipal waste, or any technology used to convert part
of all of such waste materials for off-site reuse. Processing facilities
include but are not limited to transfer facilities, composting facilities,
incinerators, recycling facilities and resource recovery facilities.
Clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and bimetallic
cans and plastics.
[Added 8-7-1991 by Ord. No. 91-3]
The standardized containers issued or approved by resolution
of the Council of the Township of Lower Saucon pursuant to the provisions
of this chapter for the purpose of collecting, storing and placing
recyclables, as herein below defined, at the curbside for collection
by a licensed collector.
[Added 8-7-1991 by Ord. No. 91-3]
The collective term applying to all garbage, rubbish, ashes,
leaves and grass trimmings from residential, municipal, commercial
or institutional premises.
At least three or more times per month.
Any waste, including but not limited to municipal, residual
or hazardous wastes, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained
gaseous materials. (Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act 97, Section
103[2]).
The containment of any municipal waste on a temporary basis
in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of such waste, and
it shall be presumed that the containment of any municipal waste in
excess of one year constitutes disposal.
Lower Saucon Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
The off-site removal of any municipal waste generated or
present at any time from the Township of Lower Saucon.
A.Â
General. It shall be the duty of every owner of property
and every person occupying any dwelling unit, premises or place of
business within the Township of Lower Saucon where municipal waste
is produced and is accumulated, by his own expense and cost, to provide
and keep at all times a sufficient number of containers to hold all
municipal waste which may accumulate during the intervals between
collection of such municipal waste by an authorized collector.
B.Â
Recycling. It shall be the duty of every owner of
property and every person occupying any dwelling unit, premise or
place of business within the Township of Lower Saucon wherein recyclables
are produced and accumulated to comply with all rules and regulations
agreed to between the resident and the licensed collector regarding
the preparation of recyclables by the resident, owner or occupier.
In an effort to facilitate and promote recycling, the following shall
govern the collection, disposal, transportation and storage of recyclables:
[Added 8-7-1991 by Ord. No. 91-3]
(1)Â
Each resident shall contract with a licensed collector
of their choice. Rates for contract services shall be determined between
the collector and the resident and shall not be set by the Township.
(2)Â
Hours of collection shall be established by the licensed
contractor. All collection services, however, shall be performed in
a way so as not to disturb any neighbors at the time of collection.
(3)Â
All collection of recyclables must occur on at least
a biweekly basis but may occur more frequently.
(4)Â
The collector shall collect recyclables placed on
the curbside by any of the collector's customers on the same day as
the collector's refuse collection.
(5)Â
The collector shall be responsible for the sorting
and/or marketing of all recyclables collected.
(6)Â
The collector shall be responsible for conveying to
all customers and any new customer the policy and requirements of
this chapter concerning recycling and any additional information that
the Township may reasonably require. The manner of conveying the information
to the customer shall be left to the discretion of the collector,
provided that if the Township is advised that information is not being
disseminated to the customer, the Township may require additional
notices at the sole expense of the collector.
(7)Â
Every person of the Township shall recycle all recyclables.
Persons shall have a duty to place all recyclables in a recycling
container, which shall be supplied to every person by the Township.
Recyclables shall be collected by the licensed collector which the
person chooses to contract with in accordance with the collector's
schedule, but not less frequently than once every two weeks. Rural
Township residents not having a collector shall be responsible for
recycling but can make alternate arrangements to be approved by the
Township for the disposal of their recyclables.
(8)Â
All recycling containers shall remain the property
of the Township. Whenever a person moves out of the Township, recycling
containers shall be turned into the Township at the time said person
obtains a moving permit. The Township shall issue the recycling container
to the next succeeding person.
(9)Â
No person other than a licensed refuge collector shall
scavenge, remove, take, scatter or disturb recyclables which have
been placed at curbside for collection pursuant to this chapter.
(10)Â
No persons shall damage, take, remove, deface or use
for purposes other than approved recycling, storage and collection
any recycling container issued or approved by the Township pursuant
to this chapter.
A.Â
Unauthorized collection and transportation. It shall
be unlawful for any person, other than such persons as are duly authorized
by the Township of Lower Saucon, to collect and transport solid waste
of any nature as a regular hauling business within or from the Township
of Lower Saucon. Authorization shall be given only as set forth below.
B.Â
Licensing procedure. Authorization to collect, transport
and dispose of municipal waste for persons other than oneself may
be given only by the Township of Lower Saucon through the issuance
of a license. All applications for licensing shall be approved in
accordance with the following:
(1)Â
Eligible persons. Municipal solid waste collection
licenses may be issued to only those persons who can provide satisfactory
evidence that they are capable of providing the necessary services
and can comply with the provisions and intent of this chapter. The
Township of Lower Saucon reserves the right to disapprove any application
for license.
(2)Â
Application procedure. Applicants for a municipal
solid waste collection license must furnish the following information:
(a)Â
The make, model, license plate number and size
of each vehicle to be used for collection and transportation;
(b)Â
The location, address and telephone number of
the business office of the applicant;
(c)Â
A certificate of the applicant's workmen's compensation
insurance, as required by law;
(d)Â
A certificate of insurance coverage providing
complete third-party comprehensive, bodily injury and property damage
liability insurance, the limits of which shall not be less than $300,000/$500,000
for bodily injury and $100,000 for property damage; and
(e)Â
Any other information which the Township of
Lower Saucon may request and deem necessary prior to the issuance
of a license.
(3)Â
Issuance. Licenses shall be issued on a calendar-year
basis, but may be revoked at any time by the Township of Lower Saucon
for failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
(4)Â
Fees. Fees for licenses shall be set by the Township
of Lower Saucon, and the amount thereof shall be provided to any applicant
or other person upon request.
(5)Â
License and capacity. Each vehicle must prominently
display the name and number of the licensee and the cubic-yard capacity
of the vehicle's body.
(6)Â
Recycling. Each hauler licensed and authorized to collect recyclables in accordance with this chapter shall comply with § 135-5B and shall, further, provide to the Township copies of all records and reports required to be kept by Section 704 and Section 1304 of Act 101 of 1988 (53 P.S. § 4000.704 and 53 P.S. § 4000.1304, respectively). In addition to those records, however, each collector must submit to the Township on or before January 15 of each calendar year a report describing the weight and/or volume of recyclables collected by the collector in the preceding calendar year.
[Added 8-7-1991 by Ord. No. 91-3]
C.Â
Recycling. All collectors authorized to collect and
transport solid waste and licensed pursuant to the provisions of this
article shall, in accordance with this article, collect, transport
and dispose of recyclables.
[Added 8-7-1991 by Ord. No. 91-3]
Any person transporting solid waste within the
Township of Lower Saucon shall prevent or remedy any spillage from
vehicles or containers used in the transport of such solid waste.
A.Â
Designated facilities. All municipal waste produced,
collected and transported from within the jurisdictional limits of
the Township of Lower Saucon shall be, to the extent permitted by
law, disposed of at disposal facilities designated by the Township
of Lower Saucon and in accordance with any currently effective solid
waste management plan of the Township of Lower Saucon. In the absence
of such designated facilities and/or such currently effective solid
waste management plan, municipal waste from the Township of Lower
Saucon must be disposed of at a state-permitted facility.
B.Â
Notice to collectors. If the Township of Lower Saucon
designates the disposal facilities as provided for above, all authorized
collectors and other interested persons shall be informed of the location
and other information pertaining to designated disposal facilities
to be used for the disposal of municipal waste collected, transported,
removed and disposed.
A.Â
Individuals not engaged in collection. Nothing contained
herein shall be deemed to prohibit any residential property occupant
not regularly engaged in the business of collecting municipal waste
from hauling his own municipal waste, on an irregular and unscheduled
basis, to a state-permitted disposal facility.
B.Â
Farming activities. Nothing contained herein shall
prohibit a farmer from carrying out the normal activities of his farming
operation, including composting and spreading of manure or other farm-produced
agricultural waste.
C.Â
Hazardous and residual waste. The provisions of this
chapter do not apply to anything but the storage, collection, transportation
and disposal of municipal waste and do not apply, therefore, to hazardous
or residual waste as defined by the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management
Act.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 6018.101
et seq.
A.Â
Violations and penalties. This chapter shall be enforced
by action brought before a Magisterial District Judge in the same
manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under the
Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. Any person who violates
or permits the violation of this chapter shall, upon conviction in
a summary proceeding, be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000
or by 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. Each section of this chapter
that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense.
[Amended 9-18-1996 by Ord. No. 96-10; 5-20-1998 by Ord. No. 98-17; 3-3-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-01]
B.Â
Additional remedies. In addition to the foregoing
penalty, the Township of Lower Saucon may require the owner or occupant
of a property to remove any accumulation of solid waste, and should
said person fail to remove such solid waste after 10 days following
written notice, the Township of Lower Saucon may cause the solid waste
to be collected and disposed of, with the costs for such actions to
be charged to the owner or occupant of the property in a manner provided
by law.
C.Â
Abatement. The imposition of the penalties herein
prescribed shall not preclude the Township of Lower Saucon from instituting
appropriate actions or proceedings to prevent the violation of this
chapter, to restrain, correct or abate any such violation or to prevent
any act, conduct, business or activity constituting a violation.
