25 Pa. Code § 71.63 - Retaining tanks
(a) Retaining
tanks are designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of the
sewage at another site. This requires the control of retaining tanks through
specific restrictions on their use.
(b) General requirements for retaining tank
use are as follows:
(1) The official plan or
revision shall meet the requirements of Subchapters B and C (relating to
official plan requirements; and new land development plan revisions).
(2) Proposed disposal sites, the method of
disposal and the retaining tank cleaner for retaining tank waste shall be
approved by the Department in a manner consistent with the Solid Waste
Management Act (35 P. S. §§
6018.101-6018.1003) prior to approval
of the official plan or revision allowing the use of retaining tanks.
(3) A municipality, sewer authority or sewage
management agency may delegate or contract for the collection and disposal of
the contents of the retaining tanks except that the ultimate responsibility for
the proper collection and disposal of the contents shall remain with the
municipality, authority or agency.
(4) Whenever the local agency issues permits
for retaining tanks, the municipality or local agency may impose other
conditions it deems necessary for operation and maintenance of the tanks to
prevent a nuisance or a public health hazard.
(c) Holding tanks require regular service and
maintenance to prevent their malfunction and overflow and shall be used in lieu
of other methods of sewage disposal only when the following additional
conditions are met:
(1) The applicable
official plan or revision thereto indicates the use of holding tanks for that
lot and provides for replacement by adequate sewerage services in accordance
with a schedule approved by the Department.
(2) The applicable official plan or revision
includes municipal financial assurances of the replacement project's
implementation, such as public financing, bonding or other security of
sufficient present value to assure completion or other assurances either
singularly or in combination that the Department deems necessary.
(3) The municipality, sewer authority or
other Department approved entity with jurisdiction or responsibility over the
site has by suitable ordinance, regulation or restriction assumed full
responsibility for maintaining existing and new holding tanks. The ordinances,
regulations or restrictions shall, as a minimum, include:
(i) Identification of the administrative
entity to receive, review and retain pumping receipts from permitted holding
tanks.
(ii) An annual inspection of
holding tanks within the municipality with completion and retention of a
written inspection report.
(iii)
Procedures and penalties for correction of malfunctions or public health
hazards from holding tanks.
(d) The restrictions in subsection (c)(1)-(3)
do not apply to holding tanks when the local agency, municipality or the
Department determines that the use is necessary to abate a nuisance or public
health hazard.
(e) The restrictions
in subsection (c)(1) and (2) do not apply to holding tanks when the use is for
institutions, recreational vehicle dump stations or commercial establishments
with a sewage flow of less than 800 gpd.
(f) A privy or chemical toilet is designed to
receive sewage where there is no water under pressure and no piped wastewater.
Privies shall be used in lieu of other methods of sewage disposal only when the
following conditions are met:
(1) The
applicable official plan or the revision thereto indicates the use of privies
for that lot and documents that soil and site suitability testing of that lot
under §§
73.11-73.16 has been conducted, and the
site meets the requirements for the ultimate sewage disposal by one of the
systems described under §§
73.51-73.55 and
73.167 (relating to construction
of absorption areas; and spray fields) to assure that adequate sewage
facilities will be available to that lot in the future.
(2) The municipality, sewer authority or
other Department approved entity with jurisdiction or responsibility over the
site has by suitable ordinance, regulation or restriction assumed
responsibility for assuring the removal of a privy and the installation of an
approved onlot sewage disposal system when water under pressure or piped water
is available to the lot or when the property owner installs water under
pressure or piped water or plumbing to move wastewater from the structure to
the privy vault or to an unpermitted disposal system on that lot.
(g) The restrictions in subsection
(f) do not apply:
(1) To a privy or chemical
toilet when proposed for use on a lot of record in existence prior to May 15,
1972, which is 1 acre or larger and is not served now and will not be served in
the future by water under pressure, piped water or plumbing to move wastewater
from the structure to the privy vault or to an unpermitted disposal system on
that lot.
(2) To temporary use of
portable retention tanks or portable chemical toilets when their use is
proposed at construction sites or at the site of public gathering and
entertainments.
Notes
The provisions of this § 71.63 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 § 73.11 (relating to general).
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