Pennsylvania Code › Title 25 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Part I - Department of Environmental Protection › Subpart C - Protection of Natural Resources › Article I - Land Resources › Chapter 72 - ADMINISTRATION OF SEWAGE FACILITIES PERMITTING PROGRAM › Subchapter C - ADMINISTRATION OF PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS › Section 72.42 - Powers and duties of local agencies

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) The local agency has the power and duty
						to:
(1) Employ or contract with sewage
						enforcement officers to administer section 7 of the act (35 P. S. §
														750.7) and this part.
(2) Employ or contract with other technical
						and administrative personnel necessary to support the activities of the sewage
						enforcement officer.
(3) Set rates
						of compensation for the sewage enforcement officer and other employes necessary
						for the administration of the act by the local agency.
(4) Maintain offices and purchase equipment
						and supplies necessary for the administration of the act.
(5) Establish a schedule of fees for the
						processing of applications and other services provided by the local agency.
						This fee schedule may establish different charges for various activities and
						types of systems consistent with the administrative costs of reviewing
						applications, conducting necessary tests and investigations and supervising the
						installation of the system.
(6)
						Collect the appropriate fees as designated in the established fee schedule. The
						local agency shall maintain records of income, expenses and transactions of the
						local agency in a manner consistent with accepted accounting
						practices.
(7) Establish a system
						of receipts for monetary transactions. The receipt system shall provide to the
						local agency and to the applicant a record of the amount tendered to the local
						agency and the specific purpose of the transaction.
(8) Adopt and maintain standards and
						procedures for applications and permits for individual and community onlot
						sewage systems identical to those of the Department, as contained in this
						part.
(9) Adopt and maintain other
						regulations the local agency deems necessary for the administration and
						enforcement of section 7 of the act as long as they are consistent with the act
						and this part.
(10) Submit reports
						and data to the Department as required by this part or an order of the
						Department.
(11) Submit to the
						Department annually the name and address of its certified sewage enforcement
						officer and alternate sewage enforcement officer.
(12) Make or cause to be made inspections and
						tests necessary to carry out sections 7, 8, 12, 13, 13.1, 14, 15 and 16 of the
						act. For this purpose, the authorized representatives of the local agency have
						the right to enter upon lands.
(13)
						Proceed under sections 7, 8, 12, 13, 13.1, 13.2(b) 14, 15, and 16 of the act to
						restrain violations of the act and this part, and to abate nuisances in
						accordance with existing statutes, or as defined in the act.
(14) Notify the Department in writing within
						15 days of a change in the sewage enforcement officer or his address.
(15) Cease issuing permits in designated
						areas when ordered to do so by the Department under section 10(7) of the act
						(35
						P. S. §
														750.10(7)),
						after notice and opportunity for a Departmental hearing. The local agency may
						issue permits in these areas for the abatement of existing health hazards and
						public nuisances.
(16) When
						applicable, establish a program for requiring, verifying, forfeiting,
						administering and enforcing the provision of financial assurances under §
													73.151 (relating to standards for
						financial assurances). Costs for administering this program shall be included
						in the fee schedule of the local agency.
(17) Adopt by resolution a list of
						individuals who are sewage enforcement officers employed by companies or
						corporations under contract with the local agency to perform the services of
						sewage enforcement officers.
(18)
						Set and collect fees necessary to support the administrative and personnel
						costs of a maintenance inspection and enforcement program.
(19) Charge for engineering or consulting
						services required by the local agency to complete its review of a permit
						application. The application or review fees charged for these services shall be
						reasonable and in accordance with the ordinary and customary charges by the
						engineer or consultant for similar service in the community, and fees may not
						exceed the rate or cost charged by the engineer or consultant to the local
						agency when fees are not reimbursed by or otherwise imposed on applicants.
(i) If the applicant disputes the amount of
						the fees or charges, the applicant shall, within 10 working days of the date of
						billing, notify the local agency that the fees or expenses are disputed as
						unreasonable or unnecessary, in which case the local agency may not delay or
						disapprove an application for any approval or permit due to the applicant's
						dispute over fees or charges.
(ii)
						If, within 20 days from the date of billing, the local agency and the applicant
						cannot agree on the amount of fees or charges which are reasonable and
						necessary, the applicant and local agency shall comply with the procedure
						established in section 8(b)(4) of the act (35 P. S. §
															750.8(b)(4)) to resolve the
						fee or charge dispute.
(20) Complete and provide to the applicant
						the results of any site suitability review, soil probe testing and soil
						percolation testing within 20 working days of the local agency's receipt of a
						permit application.
(i) The testing and
						results of the testing may be deferred to a later date that the applicant may
						request in writing or by a later date agreed to by the sewage enforcement
						officer and the applicant, which is confirmed in writing by the sewage
						enforcement officer.
(ii) A
						one-call system serial number shall be obtained prior to soil testing by the
						permit applicant or the contractor retained by the applicant to perform the
						test excavation. This notification shall take place no less than 3 and no more
						than 10 working days prior to the excavation. The deadline for permit review by
						the local agency in this subsection does not apply to an applicant who fails to
						comply with the one-call system notification requirement.
(iii) It is the obligation of the applicant
						to have the site prepared in the manner required by written instructions
						provided to the applicant after receipt of at least 48 hours' notice from the
						local agency or sewage enforcement officer of the anticipated time the soils
						tests will be performed. Written instructions shall include provisions for
						deferral of testing due to weather.
(iv) Failure of the local agency to comply
						with these time limits shall entitle the applicant, upon request, to a refund
						of fees paid by the applicant for soil testing that was not performed by the
						local agency, and the applicant shall be entitled to submit results of soils
						tests, on forms provided by the Department conducted in a manner consistent
						with this article by a certified sewage enforcement officer, who need not be
						employed by or under contract with the local agency. These test results shall
						be accepted by the local agency and its sewage enforcement officer, who shall
						rely upon the results of these tests in acting on an application.
(v) An applicant who, after receiving the
						notice of testing, fails to have the site prepared for soil testing in a manner
						required by the local agency, does not have the right to submit the results of
						soils testing performed by a certified sewage enforcement officer not employed
						by or under contract with the local agency, nor is the applicant entitled to a
						refund of fees paid for soil testing as provided in this section.
(vi) Neither the municipality, local agency,
						local agency's sewage enforcement officer nor the Department will be held
						liable on a cause of action arising out of soil tests performed under this
						section by a certified sewage enforcement officer not employed by or under
						contract with the local agency.
(21) Make inspections of and verify
						measurements made by applicants on public or private properties which are
						determined by the local agency's authorized representative to have natural or
						manmade features from which specific isolation distances are required prior to
						the approval of onlot sewage disposal system usage in subdivisions or
						individual lots. The local agency's authorized representative shall have the
						right to enter upon lands for these purposes.
(22) Determine if a proposed individual
						residential spray irrigation system will create a nuisance or adversely impact
						existing and proposed drinking water supplies and report this information to
						any affected municipality served by the local agency.
(23) Assure that an individual residential
						spray irrigation system discharge is sampled at least once per year by the
						property owner through a testing laboratory for fecal coliforms, carbonaceous
						biological oxygen demand, suspended solids and disinfectant residual or
						effectiveness. Individual effluent samples may not exceed a
						BOD5 of 25 mg/l and suspended solids concentration of 30
						mg/l. Free chlorine residual shall be maintained at a range of 0.2-2.0 PPM
						unless a higher level is required to control disease producing organisms. This
						disinfection shall produce an effluent which will contain a concentration not
						greater than 200 fecal coliform organisms per 100 milliliters in a single
						sample. The local agency shall review the results of these samples and the most
						recent system inspection conducted under §
													73.167 (relating to operation and
						maintenance) and take any necessary action to resolve operational or
						maintenance problems identified through the sample results. Additional sampling
						may be required by the local agency if the annual sample indicates a violation
						of the limitations specified in this paragraph.
(24) A county health department and joint
						county departments of health may also administer the continuing maintenance
						provisions of §
													71.73 (relating to sewage
						management programs) when the municipality relinquishes and the county health
						department or joint county department of health accepts the authority and
						conforms with § 71.73.