This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Land Application of Sewage Sludge Ordinance of Hellam Township,
York County, PA of 1996."
A. The purpose of this article is:
(1) To protect the health, safety and general welfare of all Township citizens and other persons by seeking to prevent exposure to any toxic or other harmful material contained in sewage sludge including but not limited to, heavy metals, pathogens, radioactivity and toxic and carcinogenic chemicals as provided by Section 503.5 of Subchapter 0, Chapter
1 of Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.
(2) To seek to preserve the surface waters and aquifers
that contribute to a healthy environment and to seek to preserve the
natural environmental quality of all land and its flora and fauna
within the Township.
(3) To seek to preserve and protect agriculture and agriculture
related activities and to seek to preserve a productive land base
and climate for future generations.
(4) To register land application sites and the land application
process to assure compliance with PA DEP permit requirements and to
provide local registration, inspection and enforcement by PA DEP.
B. Interpretation or implementation of this article shall give priority to the purposes stated in Subsection
A over such considerations as economics, efficiency and scheduling factors.
C. The federal and state government have established
regulations for the land application of sewage sludge. These regulations
have been incorporated into this article. The following regulations
apply to the land application of sewage sludge as of December 1997.
(1) A person may not apply sewage sludge in a way that
will cause surface or groundwater pollution, cause or allow the attraction,
harborage or breeding of vectors, cause or allow emissions of any
malodorous air contaminants under Pa. Code, Title 25, Section 123.31(b),
adversely affect private or public water supplies, or cause any public
nuisance. [25 Pa. Code, Chapter 271, Subchapter J, § 271.902(g)]
(2) No sewage sludge shall be applied to the land where
such application shall constitute an environmental or health hazard
or otherwise cause a nuisance.
(3) No properties other than the permitted site shall
be exposed to sewage sludge.
(4) Sewage sludge shall not be deposited on any land in
Hellam Township if the sewage sludge exceeds state and federal standards
for land application of sewage sludge.
(5) Soil pH shall be 6.0 or greater prior to the land
application and shall be maintained at 6.0 or greater for the life
of land application operations and for two additional years following
the last application of sludge to the site.
(6) All sewage sludge applied to land in Hellam Township
shall not be applied to the land at a rate that is greater than the
agronomic rate. [25 Pa. Code § 271.915(f)]
(7) Current regulations require that the following crop
harvest restrictions for crops grown on sewage sludge sites be followed.
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Crops Harvest Period Prohibited
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Food crops (above soil)
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24 months
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Food crops (below soil)
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38 months
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Feed crops (after application)
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30 days
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Animal grazing (after application)
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60 days
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D. This article does not apply to exceptional quality
sewage sludge defined by federal and state regulations.
The following terms shall have the meanings
defined in this section wherever they are used in this article:
ADJACENT AREAS
Lands that abut a sewage sludge site within the boundaries
of the property on which the site is located.
ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLETENESS
An application is administratively complete if it contains
the necessary analyses, fees, documents and information, regardless
of whether the analyses, fees, documents and information would be
sufficient for the issuance of the permit, or the determination of
applicability. (25 Pa. Code, Chapter 271, Subchapter I, § 271.822)
APPLICANT
A.
Site registration application is the preparer
of sewage sludge for use, incineration or disposal.
B.
Land application registration applicant is the
person responsible for complying with PA DEP and federal regulations
governing the application of sewage sludge to the land.
BENEFICIAL USE
Use or reuse of residual waste or residual material derived
from residual waste for commercial, industrial or governmental purposes
where the use does not harm or threaten public health, safety, welfare
or the environment, or the use or reuse of processed municipal waste
for any purpose, where the use does not harm or threaten public health,
safety, welfare or the environment. (25 Pa. Code, Chapter 271, Subchapter
A, § 271.1)
DEP
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
INSPECTION
Preapplication inspection and post-application surveillance
and reporting on land applications of sewage sludge.
LAND APPLICATION
The spraying or spreading of sewage sludge onto the land
surface for beneficial use; the injection of sewage sludge below land
surface for beneficial use, or the incorporation of sewage sludge
into the soil for beneficial use so that the sewage sludge can either
condition the soil or fertilize crops for vegetation grown in the
soil. (25 Pa. Code, Chapter 271, Subchapter J, § 271.907)
ORDINANCE
The Land Application of Sewage Sludge Ordinance of Hellam
Township and any subsequent amendment thereto.
PATHOGENS
Pathogenic organisms are disease-causing organisms that include
but are not limited to, certain bacteria, protozoa, viruses and viable
helminth ova.
PERSON
Any individual, natural person, trustee, court-appointed
representative, syndicate, association, partnership, firm, club, company,
corporation, business trust, institution, agency, government corporation,
municipal corporation, city, county, municipality, district or other
political subdivision, department, bureau, agency or instrumentality
of federal, state or local government, contractor, or any officers,
agents, employees, factors, or any kind of representatives of any
thereof, in any capacity acting either for himself, or for any other
person, under either personal appointment or pursuant to law, or other
entity recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties. The
masculine, feminine singular or plural is included in any circumstances.
POLLUTANT
An organic substance, an inorganic substance, a combination
of organic substances, a pathogenic organism or another substance
identified by the Department (PA DEP) that, after discharge and upon
exposure, ingestion, inhalation or assimilation into an organism either
directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through the
food chain, could, on the basis of information available to the Department,
cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations,
physiological malfunctions (including malfunction in reproduction),
or physical deformation in either organisms or offspring of the organisms.
(25 Pa. Code, Chapter 271, Subchapter J, § 271.907)
POLLUTANT LIMIT
A numerical value that describes the amount of a pollutant
allowed per unit amount of sewage sludge, (for example, milligrams
per kilogram of total solids); the amount of a pollutant that can
be applied to a unit area of land (for example, pounds per acre or
kilograms per hectare); or the volume of a material that can be applied
to a unit area of land (for example, gallons per acre or liters per
hectare). (25 Pa. Code, Chapter 271, Subchapter J, § 271.907)
PRETREATMENT USER
All users subject to the national pretreatment standards under 40 CFR, Chapter
1, Part 403, as amended.
REGISTRATION
A.
Site registration. Document which confirms that
the proposed site meets all federal, state and local regulations pertaining
to land application of sewage sludge.
B.
Land application registration. Authorization
to land apply sewage sludge on agricultural lands in Hellam Township.
C.
Annual updates. Annual renewal of site registration.
SEWAGE SLUDGE
Liquid or solid sludges and other residues from a municipal
sewage collection and treatment system, and liquid or solid sludges
and other residues from septic and holding tank pumpings from commercial,
institutional or residential establishments. The term includes materials
derived from sewage sludge. The term does not include ash generated
during the firing of sewage sludge in a sewage sludge incinerator,
grit and screenings generated during preliminary treatment of sewage
sludge at a municipal sewage collection and treatment systems, or
grit, screenings and nonorganic objects from septic and holding tank
pumpings. (25 Pa. Code, Chapter 271, Subchapter A, § 271.1)
TOWNSHIP
References Hellam Township and/or Hellam Township Board of
Supervisors or their agents.
TRANSPORTATION
The conveyance of sewage sludge from one point to another.
TREATMENT WORKS
Either a federally owned, publicly owned or privately owned
device or system used to treat (including recycle and reclaim) either
domestic sewage or a combination of domestic sewage and industrial
waste of a liquid nature. (25 Pa. Code, Chapter 291, Subchapter J,
§ 291.907)
WATER SOURCE
Groundwater, spring or surface water which is used for human
use or consumption.
It shall be unlawful for any person to apply
sewage sludge for any purpose to any lands within the limits of Hellam
Township unless he holds a valid permit for such purpose or purposes
as may be required by PA DEP or any other administrative agency under
the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and holds a valid site
registration and/or land application registration required and issued
for a specific site and person by Hellam Township under this or any
other ordinance of Hellam Township. Prior to land application, all
sewage sludge sites in Hellam Township must have a site registration
and land application registration issued by Hellam Township.
A. Eligibility for registration:
(1) Site registration shall be issued to the wastewater
treatment facility which generates the sewage sludge for land application
within Hellam Township.
(2) Land application registration shall be issued to the
facility/person responsible for complying with PA DEP and Federal
regulations governing the land application of sewage sludge within
Hellam Township.
(3) No site registration shall be issued unless the person
making application shall have first been issued a valid permit by
PA DEP.
(4) No land application registration shall be issued unless
the person making application shall be licensed with the York County
Solid Waste Authority.
The land application of the sewage sludge shall
comply with the following requirements and standards:
A. All registrants shall comply with PA DEP requirements,
as amended, regarding the land application of sewage sludge.
B. All analyses required by this article shall be performed
by a laboratory whose work is approved and accepted by DEP.
C. Any vehicle hauling sewage sludge, in any form shall
be of such construction so as to prevent any part of the load from
spilling or leaking at all times. The operator of each vehicle must
have current vehicle registration, vehicle safety inspection, YCSWA
license and a copy of the LAR and vehicle manifest for the contents
of that vehicle.
(1) Vehicle manifest must show the GVW of the vehicle
and the source of the sludge.
(2) The transporting [NOTE: this is transportation only]
of sewage sludge within Hellam Township will be restricted to Monday
through Friday between 6:00 a.m. and dusk.
D. The Township may enforce the PA DEP regulations, as
amended, regarding the land application of sewage sludge consistent
with requirements of those regulations.
This article shall be effective the day and
date it is passed and shall apply to all current existing permits
issued or authorized by PA DEP for the land application of sewage
sludge in Hellam Township. Any land application of sewage sludge in
process on the day and date this article is passed must be completed
in 30 days. All future land application of sewage sludge must comply
with all provisions of this article.