Ordinance No. 319
Section 142-14. Short title; introduction; purpose.
A. This article shall be known and may be cite as "An On-Lot Management Program for Upper Southampton Township.
B. As mandated by the municpal codes, the Clean Streams Law (35 P.S., Section 691.1) and the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (Act of January 24, 1966, P.L. as amended, 35 P.S., Section 750.1 et seq., known as Act 537), municipalities have the power and the duty to provide for adequate sewage treatment facilities and for the protection of the public health by preventing the discharge of untreated or inadequately treated sewage. The Sewage Facilities Plan Update for Upper Southampton Township indicates a commitment to formulate and implement an on-lot management program for all lots within the township utilizing on-lot sewage systems.
C. The purpose of this article is to provide for the maintenance, inspection and repair of om-lot sewage systems; and to establish responsibilities for the proper administration of a sewage management program.
Section 142-15. Definitions.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ABSORPTION AREA - A component of an individual or community sewage system where liquid from a septic tank seeps into the soil; it consists of an aggregate filled area containing piping for the distribution of liquid and the soil or sand/soil combination located beneath the aggregate.
CERTIFIED SEPTIC SYSTEM INSPECTOR - An individual qualified to perform septic system inspections as evidenced by a Sewage Enforcement Officer license issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or successful completion of inspection training through the Pennsylvania Septage Management Association.
LICENSED SEWAGE HAULER - A sewage hauler licensed by the Bucks County Department of Health.
ON-LOT SEWAGE SYSTEM - A system of piping, tanks or other facilities serving either a single lot or two or more lots and collecting, treating and disposing of domestic sewage into absorption area.
PERSON - An individual, assoication, public or private corporation for profit or not-for-profit, partnership, firm, trust, estate, department, board, bureau or agency of the United States, commonwealth, political subdivision, municipality, district, authority, or other legal entity which is recognized by the law as the subject of rights and duties. The term includes members of an association, partnership or firm and the officers of a local agency or municipal, public or private corporation for profit or not-for-profit.
TREATMENT TANK - A tank that provides for aerobic or anaerobic decomposition of sewage to take place prior to discharge to an absorption area. This term shall also include cesspools.
Section 142-16. Responsibilities of persons who own properties served by individual on-lot sewage systems.
Every person who owns a property on which an on-lot sewage system is located within Upper Southampton Township shall comply with the following:
A. Treatment tank pumping.
(1) Have the treatment tank on their property pumped by a licensed sewage hauler whenever an inspection of a treatment tank reveals that the treatment tank is filled with solids or scum in excess of 1/3 the liquid depth of the tank.
(2) Provide the township with a receipt documenting the date on which the tank was cleaned by a licensed sewage hauler or inspected by a certified septic system inspector documenting that the solids and scum in the tank have not reached a depth that requires cleaning in accordance with the criteria of this Subsection A. Such receipt must be submitted to the township within 30 days of the cleaning or inspection.
B. On-lot sewage system inspection.
(1) Have the on-lot sewage system on their property inspected by a certified septic system inspector every two years in accordance with the Septic System Inspection Checklist as prepared by the Pennsylvania Septage Management Association.
(2) Provide the township with a receipt documenting the date on which the system was inspected and a copy of the inspection checklist. Such receipt and checklist must be submitted to the township within 30 days of the inspection.
C. On-lot sewage system repair.
(1) Have the on-lot sewage system on their property repaired if the on-lot system inspection identifies an unsatisfactory condition. The system shall be repaired within 60 days from the date the unsatisfactory condition was identified, weather permitting.
(2) Provide the township with a receipt documenting the date on which the system was repaired along with a copy of the Bucks County Department of Health permit authorizing the repair. Such receipt and permit must be submitted to the township wihtin 30 days of the repair.
Section 142-17. Notice to comply.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Upper Southampton, or any officer of the township designated thereby for this purpose, is hereby authorized to give notice, by personal service or by United States mail, to the person who owns a property on which an on-lot sewage system is located, requiring such owner to pump, inspect or repair the on-lot sewage system and provide the township with a receipt and other specified information documenting the date on which the on-lot sewage system was pumped, inspected or repaired.
Section 142-18. Fees.
Costs for the municipal administration of the management program, including maintaining on-lot system information and monitoring compliance, shall be assessed to property owners included in the program and will be set by municipal resolution. It shall be each individual property owner's responsibility to contract with a licensed sewage hauler and certified on-lot sewage system inspector for the pumping and inspection of the on-lot sewage system.
Section 142-19. Enforcement Remedies.
[Added 6-19-2012 by Ord. No. 414[1]]
Any violation of this article shall be enforced by action brought before a District Justice in the same manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 and/or to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 10 days. Each day that a violation of this article continues, or each section of this article which shall be found to have been violated, shall constitute a separate offense. For purposes of this section, the doing of any act or thing prohibited by any provision of this article, or the failure to do any act or thing as to which any provision of this article creates an affirmative duty, shall constitute a violation of this article punishable as herein stated.