Chapter 270 of the Public Laws of Rhode Island,
1984, provides for improvements of and additions to the Lincoln sewer
system, and authorizes its financing through the issuance of $29,500,000
in bonds. Section 13 of this law authorizes the Town Council to assess
a portion of the cost of construction of the sewer system additions
upon the owners of estates in the Town which abut the portion of any
street or right-of-way along which a sewer may be located. Section
14 authorizes the Town Council to fix and periodically revise a schedule
of sewer service charges to pay the annual cost of maintaining, repairing
and operating the Town's sewer system. Section 15 authorizes the Town
Council to prescribe rules and regulations, by ordinance, regulating
the connections of buildings with sewers. Those authorizations as
well as additional regulations, whether promulgated by the Town or
by the Blackstone Valley Sewer District Commission (Rules and Regulations
of the Blackstone Valley District Wastewater Facilities, effective
July 1, 1983) or the Narragansett Bay Water Quality Management District
Commission (Sewer Use Ordinance adopted September 26, 1983) are included
in this chapter, either in full or in part by reference. In case of
conflict, the most restrictive requirements will control.
The following words, terms and phrases, when
used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in
this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different
meaning:
The Federal Water Pollution Act, P.L. 92-500, and any amendments
thereto; as well as any guidelines, limitations and standards promulgated
by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the Act.
The Town Council or other body it may designate to authorize
assessment of a sewer tax.
That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drain system
which receives the discharge from the soil, waste, and other drainage
pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building
sewer, beginning five feet (1.5 meters) outside the inner face of
the building wall. The building drain, from a minimum of six inches
(15.2 cm) inside the foundation wall, through the foundation wall,
and to five feet (1.5 meters) outside the inner face of the building
wall shall be a minimum of four inches (10.2 cm) in diameter and shall
be in accordance with local or state plumbing and building codes.
The Building Inspector of the Town or his authorized deputy,
agent or representative.
The extension from the building drain to the public sewer
or other place of disposal.
Any structure owned by any incorporated nonprofit organization
used or designed for use as a school and/or for the conduct of religious
services and related purposes such as parsonage, rectory, convent,
school or assembly or recreation hall.
A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
Any structure which is used or designed for use as a country
club, private or nonprofit meeting hall or club, business office,
bank, retail or wholesale store, lumberyard, nursery, proprietary
school, professional office, and any other commercial, social or community
use (excepting multifamily residence structures and church or school
structures).
A person who develops a plat of land under an approved final
subdivision plat or building permit.
The Director of Public Works of the Town or his authorized
deputy, agent or representative.
One or more rooms designed or intended for living purposes
and containing sanitary facilities.
Chapter 270 of the Public Laws of Rhode Island, 1984, as
the same has been or may hereafter be amended from time to time.
The Finance Director of the Town as defined by the Charter.
Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation,
cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and
sale of produce.
A buildable lot containing a single residential structure
or multiuse structure or an unimproved buildable lot.
Any structure used or designed for use primarily for warehousing,
assembling, lubricating, shipping, manufacturing or industrial uses
or other related activities.
Any nongovernmental user of publicly-owned treatment works
not introducing wastes primarily from sanitary conveniences, and identified
in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1972, as amended
and supplemented under the following division:
The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes,
trade, or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.
Any lot or parcel of land defined by metes, bounds, or boundary
lines in a recorded deed or shown on a recorded plan or plat.
Any structure used or designed for more than one residential
unit; this includes apartments and condominiums.
Any structure owned by the Town.
Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other
body of surface or ground water.
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen
ions in grams per liter of solution.
The construction, completion, extension, enlargement and
improvement of the Town sewer system.
The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of
food that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles will
be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in
public sewers, with no particle greater than 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) in
any direction.
A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal
rights and which is controlled by public authority.
Expenditures for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories
or appurtenances which are necessary during the service life of the
treatment works to maintain the capacity and performance for which
such works were designed and constructed. The term “operation
and maintenance” includes replacement.
Any structure used or designed for occupancy as a single-family
residence. A structure which combines residential, commercial or industrial
activities shall be deemed a multiuse structure.
With respect to any multifamily residence structure, an identifiable
area used or designed for use as a separate living facility for one
or more persons and having its own facilities for sanitary sewage
(dwelling unit).
A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface
and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
See “wastewater.”
Any main, pipe, lateral or other conduit in a street, highway,
alley, right-of-way or easement, installed at a location and in accordance
with specifications approved in advance by the Town, to which sanitary
sewage is directed by individual sewer service lines from structures
having facilities for sanitary sewage.
[1]Any area in the Town with respect to which the Town Council
has determined that the structures or home sites located therein abut
a street, highway, alley, right-of-way or easement in which any operating
portion of the project may be located or are otherwise benefited by
any operating portion of the project.
Any residence structure, multifamily residence structure,
commercial structure, industrial structure, school or church structure
and municipal structure, located on a home site, the construction
of which was completed, or undertaken pursuant to a building permit
issued, prior to the date such home site was designated a home site
and the use or designed use of which generates or may result in the
generation of sanitary sewage.
Charges to cover sewer service costs.
The cost of maintaining, repairing and operating the sewer
system (including reserves for such purposes and for renewals and
replacements), the principal and interest of all sewer bonds and notes
of the Town when due, and any other expenses not otherwise provided
for, which may arise under the enabling act, to the extent that moneys
for the foregoing purposes are not otherwise provided.
A proprietary fund established for the recording of fee revenue
and expenses necessary for the operation, improvement, and maintenance
of the town sewer system in accordance with R.I.G.L. § 45-14-5.
[Added 5-19-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-7]
Any discharge of water, sewage or industrial waste which
concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds
for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes, more than five
times the average twenty-four-hour concentration or flows during normal
operation and shall adversely affect the wastewater facility.
With respect to any sewer assessment structure, by measuring
all internal areas of each floor (including basement where such basements
are being utilized, or were designed or constructed in a fashion so
that they may be used, for any lawful purpose to which such sewer
assessment structure may be put, but excluding unused attics).
A sewer which carries storm waters and drainage, but excludes
sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.
The Superintendent of the sewer system if that person is
not the Director, or his authorized deputy, agent or representative.
Solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension
in water, sewage, or other liquids, and which are removable by laboratory
filtering.
The Tax Assessor of the Town as defined by the Charter.
Water of quality equal to or better than the effluent criteria
in effect or water that would not cause violation of receiving water
quality standards and would not be benefited by discharge to the sanitary
sewers and wastewater treatment facilities provided.
A charge levied on users of a treatment works for the cost
of operation and maintenance of such works.
The arrangement of devices, systems, and structures including
interceptor sewers, outfall sewers, sewage collection systems, pumping,
power and other equipment and processes required to collect and carry
away domestic and industrial wastes.
The spent water of a community. From the standpoint of source,
it may be a combination of the liquid and water-carried wastes from
residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions
together with any groundwater, surface water and stormwater that may
be present.
A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously
or intermittently.
The Water Pollution Control Federation.
[1]
Editor's Note: The former definition of "Sewer Appeal Board,"
which immediately followed this definition, was repealed 4-23-2013
by Ord. No. 2013-2.
It shall be unlawful for any person to place,
deposit, or permit to be deposited in any unsanitary manner on public
or private property within the Town, or in any area under the jurisdiction
of the Town, any human or animal excrement, garbage, or objectionable
waste. It shall be unlawful to discharge to any natural outlet within
the Town any wastewater or other polluted waters, except where in
accordance with subsequent provisions of this chapter.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to construct any
privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool or other facility intended
or used for the disposal of wastewater in areas where the public sewers
are available, except as provided in this chapter.
B.
It shall be lawful for any person to maintain an existing
privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool or other facility intended
and used for the disposal of wastewater in any area of the Town. Should
such facility fail to function properly and to be considered a health
hazard by the Director or agency of jurisdiction, if such facility
is located in an area where public sewers are available, the repair
or replacement of such facility is prohibited and a building drain
shall be constructed and the facility properly abandoned.
A.
Pursuant to Section 15 of Chapter 270 of the Public
Laws of Rhode Island, 1984, the Director is authorized to order the
owners of all houses, buildings, or properties used for human occupancy,
employment, recreation, or other purposes, situated within the Town
and abutting on any street or right-of-way in which there is now or
may in the future be located a public sanitary sewer of the Town,
to install at owner's expense suitable toilet facilities therein,
and to connect such facilities directly with the public sewer, if
the existing privy, privy vault, cesspool or other facility intended
and used for disposal of wastewater fails or its operation impaired
to the extent that, in the opinion of the Director, it constitutes
a health hazard.
A.
No person shall operate the business of a car wash,
public laundry, automatic laundry or laundromat on any lot in the
Town unless such lot is served by a public sewer system or by a system
which reclaims for reuse on the premises at least 80% of the water
discharged from the washing facilities. This section shall not apply
to any business which shall have been in operation prior to November
19, 1985, and shall not apply to any gasoline station with a car wash
stand to accommodate the washing of no more than one car at a time.
B.
Should, however, the reclaiming system fail to meet
the above-stated standard, the Director may order the connection to
the public sewers (if available), which connection shall be made within
three months after the official notice.
No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter, or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the Director. Any violation of this section will subject such person to the penalty provided in § 207-23.
No unauthorized person shall maliciously, willfully, or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance, or equipment which is a part of the wastewater facilities. Any person violating this provision shall be subject to immediate arrest and subject to the penalty provided in § 207-23. The Town may assess a charge against the user for the costs incurred to clean or repair the wastewater facilities and add such charge to the user's sewer service charge.
Users shall notify the Director immediately
upon accidentally discharging wastes in violation of this chapter
to enable countermeasures to be taken by the Director to minimize
damage to the wastewater facilities, treatment processes and the receiving
waters.
A.
This notification shall be followed, within 15 days
of the date of occurrence, by a detailed written statement describing
the causes of the accidental discharge and the measures being taken
to prevent future occurrence.
B.
Such notification will not relieve users of liability
for any expense incurred due to loss or damage to the public sewer
system, wastewater treatment works, or treatment process.
C.
In order that employees of users may be informed of
Town requirements, users shall make available to their employees copies
of this chapter together with such other wastewater information and
notices which may be furnished by the Town, from time to time, directed
toward more effective water pollution control. A notice shall be furnished
and permanently posted on the user's bulletin board advising employees
whom to call in case of an accidental discharge in violation of this
chapter.
D.
Any direct or indirect connection or entry point for
persistent or deleterious wastes to the user's plumbing or drainage
system should be eliminated. Where such action is impractical or unreasonable,
the user shall appropriately label such entry points to warn against
discharge of such wastes in violation of this chapter.
When the Town finds that a discharge of wastewater
has taken place, in violation of prohibitions or limitations of this
chapter, or the provisions of a wastewater discharge permit, the Director
may issue an order to cease and desist, and direct that those persons
not complying with such prohibitions, limits, requirements, or provisions
to:
Any user, permit applicant or permit holder
affected by any decision, action or determination, including cease
and desist orders, made by the Director, interpreting or implementing
the provisions of this chapter or in any permit issued herein, may
file with the Director a written request for reconsideration within
10 days of such decision, action or determination, setting forth in
detail the facts supporting the user's request for reconsideration.
[Amended 4-23-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-2]
If any ruling made by the Director is unsatisfactory
to the person requesting reconsideration, he may, within 10 days after
notification of the action, file a written appeal to the Town Council.
The written appeal shall be heard by the Town Council at the next
regularly scheduled Council meeting. The Town Council shall make a
final ruling on the appeal within 15 days of the close of the meeting.
The Director's decision, action or determination shall remain in effect
during such period or reconsideration.
Any person found to be violating any provision of this chapter shall be served by the Town with written notice stating the nature of the violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period of time stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations. Any person who shall continue any violation beyond the time limit shall be subject to the penalties provided in § 207-23.
Any person violating any of the provisions of
this chapter shall become liable to the Town for any expense, loss
or damage occasioned by the Town by reason of such violation.
When a discharge of wastes causes an obstruction,
damage or any other impairment to the Town's wastewater facilities,
the Town may assess a charge against the user for the work required
to clean or repair the wastewater facilities and add such charge to
the user's sewer service charge.
Any person who knowingly makes any false statements, representation, record, report, plan or other document filed with the Town or who falsifies, tampers with, or knowingly renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method required under this chapter is hereby declared to be in violation of this chapter. Any person found in violation shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties provided in § 207-23.
In order to effect its powers, the Town may
enter upon private property for the purpose of inspection and maintenance
of sanitary and waste disposal facilities and may terminate service
to property in which a violation of any rule and regulation of this
chapter is found to exist. Prior to termination of service, however,
the Town shall notify in writing, the owner and tenant, if any, of
such property that service is intended to be so terminated and if
requested, the Town shall conduct an appeal hearing thereon as herein
provided. Such notice shall be mailed to the owner at the address
shown on the Town records and a copy shall be delivered to the tenant
or posted conspicuously on the property. The notice shall state the
date of proposed termination of service and the reasons therefor.
Such termination shall not be held less than 10 days subsequent to
the giving of the notice as herein required, and the owner may appeal
within five days such action. In the event an appeal is claimed, termination
shall be postponed until a hearing is held by the Sewer Appeal Board.
Users who propose to discharge, or who in the judgment of the Director could discharge, now or in the future, wastewater with constituents and characteristics different from that produced by a domestic premises may be required to install a monitoring facility. Monitoring results of the facility would be used to determine the need for pretreatment, in cases of industries discharging restricted wastes as described in Article IV of this chapter.
A.
When, in the judgment of the Director, an existing
user requires a monitoring facility, the user will be so notified
in writing. Construction must be completed within 90 days following
written notification unless a time extension is otherwise granted
by the Director.
B.
Monitoring facilities that are required to be installed
shall be constructed, operated and maintained at the user's expense.
The purpose of the monitoring facility is to enable inspection sampling
and flow measurement of wastewaters produced by a user. In the event
that special analyses are required by the Town, the sampling or metering
equipment required by the Director shall be provided, installed and
operated at the user's expense. The monitoring facility will normally
be required to be located on the user's premises outside of the building.
The Director may, however, when such a location would be impractical
or cause undue hardship on the user, allow the monitoring facility
to be constructed in the public street to a sidewalk area and located
so that it will not be obstructed by landscaping or parked vehicles.
C.
Whether constructed on public or private property,
the monitoring facilities shall be constructed in accordance with
the Director's requirements, construction standards and specifications.
All industries required to monitor their discharge shall keep records
and report the results of such monitoring to the Director, as required.
Such records shall be made available upon request by the Director
to other agencies having jurisdiction over discharges to the receiving
waters.
The Director may inspect the monitoring facilities
of any user to ascertain whether the purpose of this chapter is being
met and all requirements are being complied with. Persons or occupants
of premises where wastewater is created or discharged shall allow
the Director or his representative ready access at all reasonable
times to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection
or sampling or in the performance of any of their duties. The Director
shall have the right to set up on the user's property such devices
as are necessary to conduct sampling or metering operations. Where
a user has security measures in force which would require proper identification
and clearance before entry into their premises, the user shall make
necessary arrangements with their security guards so that upon presentation
of suitable identification personnel from the Town will be permitted
to enter without delay for the purpose of performing their specific
responsibilities.
All measurements, tests and analyses of the
characteristics of water, and tests to which reference is made in
this chapter shall be undertaken in accordance with the latest edition
of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater published
by the American Public Health Association. All tests shall be made
at the monitoring facility provided, or upon suitable samples taken
at the monitoring facility. If no monitoring facility has been required,
sampling shall occur at the nearest downstream manhole in the public
sewer from the point at which the building sewer is connected. Sampling
shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the
effect of constituents upon the wastewater facilities and to determine
the existence of hazards to life and property.
The Director and other duly authorized employees
of the Town, bearing proper credentials and identification, shall
be permitted to enter all properties for the purposes of inspection,
observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter. The Director or his representative
shall have no authority to inquire into any processes beyond that
point having a direct bearing on the kind and source of discharge
to the sewers, waterways or wastewater treatment works. The Director
and other duly authorized employees of the Town shall also be permitted
to enter all private properties through which the Town holds negotiated
easement for the purposes of, but not limited to, inspection, observation,
measurement, sampling, repair and maintenance of any portion of the
wastewater facilities lying within said easement. All entry and subsequent
work, if any, on said easement, shall be done in full accordance with
the terms of the duly negotiated easement pertaining to the private
property involved.
While performing the necessary work on private
properties, the Director or duly authorized employees of the Town
shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established
by the company and the company shall be held harmless for injury or
death to the Town employees. The Town shall indemnify the company
against loss or damage to its property by Town employees and against
liability claims and demands for personal injury or property damage
asserted against the company and growing out of the gauging and sampling
operation, except as such may be caused by negligence or failure of
the company to maintain safe conditions.
Any person who shall violate any provision of
this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction
thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment
not exceeding 30 days in some jail or house of correction, and/or
required to make restitution in cases involving property damage or
personal injury in an amount up to $2,500 and/or for voluntary community
service for the Town for not more than 10 days for any one offense,
unless other penalties therefor, or penalties within other limits,
are specially prescribed by statute.
