[Adopted 10-3-1983 by Ord. No. 325]
No person shall install, maintain or operate,
for himself or for another, an individual or community sewage disposal
system or construct any building in the Township of Tobyhanna, for
himself or for any other person or entity, in which an individual
or community sewage disposal system is to be installed, maintained
or operated, without first obtaining a permit from the Tobyhanna Township
Sewage Enforcement Officer, that the site, plans and specifications
of such system are in compliance with the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities
Act, as amended,[1] and the rules and regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection, adopted pursuant to that Act.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 750.1
et seq.
[Amended 12-8-2008 by Ord. No. 477]
A.Â
Applications for sewage permits shall be made to the
Township Sewage Enforcement Officer, or to such other official as
may be designated by the Township Supervisors, on the Tobyhanna Township
sewage application form.
B.Â
The Township shall issue a sewage permit for individual
and/or community sewage disposal systems only upon compliance with
all requirements of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
and this section.
C.Â
Applications for a sewage permit shall include the
following:
(1)Â
Two copies of the application.
(2)Â
Two copies of the approved subdivision plan or land
development plan, if applicable, or two copies of a plot plan.
(3)Â
Two copies of any and all Clean Streams permits or
other applicable permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection.
(4)Â
For individual and/or community on-lot sewage disposal
systems, where required, an operation and maintenance agreement, in
a recordable form that clearly sets forth the operation and maintenance
responsibility for all components of the sewage system, shall include
the following:
(a)Â
Description of the method and extent of maintenance
requirements.
(b)Â
Identification of the individual, corporation,
association or other entity responsible for operation and maintenance.
(c)Â
When maintained by a private entity or person,
provisions granting the Township the right to inspect the facilities
at any time, require the private entity or individual to take corrective
measures, and authorize that maintenance be done and lien the costs
of the work against the property responsible for the maintenance.
(d)Â
All Township costs for execution of an operation
and maintenance agreement shall be paid by the applicant and shall
be set by separate resolution by the Board of Supervisors from time
to time.
[Amended 7-6-1987 by Ord. No. 341; 6-21-1999 by Ord. No.
411]
The sewage permit application fee, which shall
be in an amount as set from time to time by resolution of the Board
of Supervisors, shall be payable at the time of application. In the
event that the permit is denied, a sum of the sewage permit application
fee as shall be set from time to time by resolution of the Board of
Supervisors shall be refunded to the applicant.
[Amended 6-21-1999 by Ord. No. 411]
In the event that the Township Sewage Enforcement
Officer is requested by the applicant or his agent to cause an inspection
to be made of the test pit or the percolation holes and, upon examination
by the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer, the property is not ready
for such inspections to be made, or if for any other reason the Township
Sewage Enforcement Officer is required to make more than one inspection
of a test pit or percolation hole, the aforesaid sewage permit application
fee shall be increased by an amount as set from time to time by resolution
of the Board of Supervisors for each such additional inspection, which
increase shall be paid by or on behalf of the applicant prior to the
making of such additional inspection by the Township Sewage Enforcement
Officer.
[Amended 7-6-1987 by Ord. No. 341; 6-21-1999 by Ord. No.
411]
In the event that the Township Sewage Enforcement
Officer is requested by the applicant or applicant's agent to cause
an inspection to be made of an existing sewage system which for any
reason the applicant must repair, the applicant shall pay a fee, as
set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors, to
the Township prior to the time that the Township Sewage Enforcement
Officer is requested to issue the required permit for the repair of
the malfunctioning system.
[Amended 7-6-1987 by Ord. No. 341; 6-21-1999 by Ord. No.
411]
In the event that a sewage permit has been issued
by the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer to the applicant or agent
of the applicant, which permit conforms with all of the laws, rules,
regulations and requirements of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and
the ordinances of the Township, the permit shall be reissued in accordance
with the then-present or current rules and regulations for an additional
two-year period upon written application from the applicant and the
payment of a fee to the Township in a sum as set from time to time
by resolution of the Board of Supervisors. The application must be
received by the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer on or before the
two-year expiration date of the original permit, which permit can
again be reissued for an additional two-year period for a total of
six years. The renewal of any permits are subject to the requirements
and the payment of fees as set forth in this section.
[Amended 7-6-1987 by Ord. No. 341]
A.Â
Any property owner or agent of any property owner
may make application to the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer for
a Site Suitability Report on the application form provided by the
Township. The purpose and intent of this report is to provide the
property owner with proof that the parcel in question has been tested
for suitability for the future installation of an on-site sewage disposal
system which would be designed in accordance with the proposed use
and structure as set forth in the application.
B.Â
The Site Suitability Report shall specifically indicate
to the applicant that such report is not a sewage permit but indicates
only that the suitability of the parcel is in accordance with the
existing standards at the time the application is made. Prior to the
construction of any structure upon the parcel, the property owner
must obtain a permit which must be issued in accordance with the then-existing
laws, standards, rules and regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and with the then-existing ordinances of the Township at the time
of the application for the sewage permit to the Township Sewage Enforcement
Officer.
C.Â
Upon application made by the property owner or the
property owner's agent to the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer
for the Site Suitability Report, the applicant shall pay a fee, as
set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors, to
the Township. In the event that the applicant has applied for a Site
Suitability Report and the parcel is found to be unsuitable for an
on-site sewage system, and after the necessary tests have been conducted
on the parcel, the Township shall refund a sum, as set from time to
time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors, to the applicant,
but only after the applicant has submitted a completed application
form for a sewage disposal system. Thereafter, the Township Sewage
Enforcement Officer shall then refuse to grant to the applicant a
permit in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania and the ordinances of the Township.
[Amended 6-21-1999 by Ord. No. 411]
D.Â
In the event that the applicant or applicant's agent
has already obtained a Site Suitability Report from the Township Sewage
Enforcement Officer, and thereafter submits an application for a sewage
permit, and the test results for said permit are consistent with the
then-existing laws, rules and regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and the then-existing ordinances of the Township, and the results
have been verified by the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer at the
time of the application for the sewage permit, then in that event
a sewage permit shall be issued to the applicant upon the payment
of a fee to the Township in a sum as set from time to time by resolution
of the Board of Supervisors.
[Amended 6-21-1999 by Ord. No. 411]
E.Â
In the event that the applicant has received a Site Suitability Report and thereafter makes application for a sewage permit to the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer, and the testing results are no longer consistent with the then-current laws, rules and regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the then-current ordinances of the Township, and the results of said testing are therefore not satisfactory and not consistent with the present rules, regulations and laws of the respective governing bodies, and the sewage permit cannot therefore be issued or the location of the disposal system is not the same as set forth in the Site Suitability Report, then in that event, the applicant must make an application to the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer for a sewage permit and pay to the Township the fee as set forth in § 113-19 of this article.
F.Â
Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary,
all issued Site Suitability Reports shall expire two years from the
date of issuance, and the same shall not be renewable. In order to
obtain a new Site Suitability Report, the applicant or the applicant's
agent shall be required to have the property retested in accordance
with the then-applicable laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and the then-applicable ordinances of the Township, and the applicant
or applicant's agent shall then pay the appropriate fees then in effect
to the use of the Township.
[Amended 6-21-1999 by Ord. No. 411]
In the event that an applicant submits a planning
module when subdividing or developing a parcel within the Township
in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, and the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer is required
to verify the soil profiles, percolation test results and test pit
results, the owner of the subdivided parcel shall pay to the Township
a fee as set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors
for each percolation or test pit verification.
[Amended 6-21-1999 by Ord. No. 411]
In the event that any individual, partnership
or corporation shall be required to use portable toilets, commonly
known as "porta-potties," "job johnnies," etc., on a parcel of land
in the Township while constructing a building on said parcel or for
any other reason, the individual, partnership or corporation shall
make application to the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer on the
forms provided for such application, which permit may be issued for
the use of said portable toilets for a period not to exceed 60 days.
After said period has expired, the permit may be renewed by the Township
Sewage Enforcement Officer for an additional permit time period as
aforementioned after the applicant has reapplied for the additional
time. All of such portable toilets shall be maintained by the individual,
partnership or corporation with the removal of the waste material
from the portable toilet on a weekly basis or as determined by the
Township Sewage Enforcement Officer. The fee as set from time to time
by resolution of the Board of Supervisors shall be payable to the
Township at the time the individual, partnership or corporation makes
application or reapplies to the Sewage Enforcement Officer for said
permit.
[Amended 6-21-1999 by Ord. No. 411]
Any property owner, applicant, individual, partnership
or corporation or any person who shall violate any of the provisions
of this article or the rules, regulations or standards promulgated
thereunder or who resists or interferes with the Township Sewage Enforcement
Officer or any officer, agent or employee of the Township of Tobyhanna
in the performance of his duties shall, upon conviction thereof in
a summary proceeding before any District Justice in the county in
which the offense was committed, be sentenced to pay a fine of not
less than $500 nor more than $5,000, plus costs, or to imprisonment
not to exceed 90 days, or both.
