(a) A municipality
shall develop and evaluate alternatives in official plans and official plan
revisions and shall determine, prior to adopting the plan, which technical and
administrative alternatives are proposed to be implemented.
(b) A municipality shall request, review and
consider comments by appropriate official planning agencies of a municipality,
including a planning agency with areawide jurisdiction if one exists, under the
Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (53 P. S. §§
10101-11202) and the existing
county or joint county department of health. Evidence that the official plan
has been before these agencies for 60 days without comment is sufficient to
satisfy the requirements of this subsection.
(c) A municipality shall submit evidence that
documents the publication of the proposed plan adoption action at least once in
a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. The notice shall
contain a summary description of the nature, scope and location of the planning
area including the antidegradation classification of the receiving water where
a discharge to a body of water designated as high quality or exceptional value
is proposed and the plan's major recommendations, including a list of the
sewage facilities alternatives considered. A 30-day public comment period shall
be provided. A copy of written comments received and the municipal response to
each comment, shall be submitted to the Department with the plan.
(d) An implementation schedule shall be
submitted as part of the official plan. This schedule shall designate the time
periods within which the specific phases of the facilities or program will be
completed and the methods and sources of financing each phase.
(e) When an official plan or official plan
revision identifies a conflict between a proposed alternative and the
consistency requirements contained in §
71.21(a)(5)(i)-(iii)
(relating to content of official plans), the
municipality shall submit written documentation that the appropriate agency has
received, reviewed and concurred with the method proposed to resolve identified
inconsistencies.
(f) The
municipality shall adopt the official plan by resolution, with specific
reference to the alternatives of choice and a commitment to implement the plan
within the time limits established in an implementation
schedule.
Notes
The
provisions of this § 71.31 adopted August 13, 1971, effective
8/14/1971, 1 Pa.B. 1649; amended
April 28, 1972, effective 5/15/1972, 2 Pa.B. 753; amended September 28,
1973, effective 10/15/1973, 3
Pa.B. 2176; amended August 30, 1974, effective 9/16/1974, 4 Pa.B. 1805; reserved January 9,
1987, effective 1/10/1987, 17
Pa.B. 172; amended June 9, 1989, effective 6/10/1989, 19 Pa.B. 2429; amended November 7,
1997, effective 11/8/1997, 27
Pa.B. 5877.
The provisions of this § 71.31 amended under
section 9 of the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (35 P. S. §
750.9); The Clean Streams Law (35 P. S.
§§
691.1-691.1001); and section 1920-A
of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §
510-20).
This section cited in 25 Pa. Code §
71.11 (relating to general
requirement); 25 Pa. Code §
71.22 (relating to coordination of
official plans with Federally funded sewage facilities planning); 25 Pa. Code
§
71.32 (relating to Department
responsibility to review and act upon official plans); 25 Pa. Code §
71.52 (relating to content
requirements-new land development revisions); and 25 Pa. Code §
71.53 (relating to municipal
administration of new land development planning requirements for
revisions).
