Pennsylvania Code › Title 25 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Part I - Department of Environmental Protection › Subpart C - Protection of Natural Resources › Article I - Land Resources › Chapter 71 - ADMINISTRATION OF SEWAGE FACILITIES PLANNING PROGRAM › Subchapter A - GENERAL › Section 71.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this
						  chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
						  otherwise:
Act
-The Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities
						  Act (35 P.S. §§
													750.1-750.20).
Clean Streams Law
-The Clean Streams
						  Law (35 P. S. §§
													691.1-691.1001).
Clean Water Act
-The Clean Water Act
						  (33 U.S.C.A. §§
													1251-1387).
Delegated agency
-A municipality, local
						  agency, multimunicipal local agency or county or joint county department of
						  health to which the Department was delegated the authority to review and
						  approve subdivisions for new land developments as supplements to the official
						  plan of a municipality in which the subdivision is located.
Equivalent dwelling unit
-For the
						  purpose of determining the number of lots in a subdivision only as it relates
						  to the determination of planning exemptions and fees for planning module
						  reviews under this chapter, that part of a multiple family dwelling or
						  commercial or industrial establishment with flows equal to 400 gpd. These flow
						  figures are not intended to be used for the calculation of flows for the design
						  of community sewerage systems or for the allocation of flows related to
						  community sewerage systems. Community sewerage system flows for design and
						  permitting purposes shall be calculated using the procedures established in the
						  Department's
Domestic Wastewater Facilities Manual
(DEP-1357).
Individual residential spray irrigation
						  system
-An individual sewage system which serves a single dwelling and
						  which treats and disposes of sewage using a system of piping, treatment tanks
						  and soil renovation through spray irrigation.
Large volume onlot sewage system
-An
						  individual or community onlot sewage system with a design capacity to discharge
						  subsurface sewage flows which are in excess of 10,000 gpd.
Limiting zone
-A soil horizon or
						  condition in the soil profile or underlying strata which includes one of the
						  following:
(i) A seasonal high water
						table, whether perched or regional, determined by direct observation of the
						water table or indicated by soil mottling.
(ii) A rock with open joints, fracture or
						solution channels, or masses of loose rock fragments, including gravel, with
						insufficient fine soil to fill the voids between the fragments.
(iii) A rock formation, other stratum or soil
						condition which is so slowly permeable that it effectively limits downward
						passage of effluent.
Local agency
-A municipality (or any
						  combination of municipalities acting cooperatively or jointly under the laws of
						  the Commonwealth), county, county department of health or joint county
						  department of health.
Lot
-A part of a subdivision or a
						  parcel of land used as a building site or intended to be used for building
						  purposes, whether immediate or future, which would not be further subdivided.
						  Whenever a lot is used for a multiple family dwelling or for commercial,
						  institutional or industrial purposes, the lot shall be deemed to have been
						  subdivided into an equivalent number of single family residential lots as
						  determined by estimated sewage flows.
Municipality
-A city, town, township,
						  borough or home rule municipality other than a county.
Official plan
-A comprehensive plan
						  for the provision of adequate sewage systems, adopted by a municipality or
						  municipalities possessing authority or jurisdiction over the provision of the
						  systems, and submitted to, and approved by, the Department as provided by the
						  act, and this part.
Official plan revision
-A change in
						  the municipality's official plan to provide for additional, newly identified
						  future or existing sewage facilities needs, which may include one or more of
						  the following:
(i)
Update
						revision
-A comprehensive revision to an existing official plan
						required when the Department or municipality determines the official plan or
						one or more of its parts is inadequate for the existing or future sewage
						facilities needs of a municipality or its residents or landowners.
(ii)
Revision for new land
						development-
A revision to a municipality's official plan resulting
						from a proposed subdivision as defined in the act.
(iii)
Special study
-A study,
						survey, investigation, inquiry, research report or analysis which is directly
						related to an update revision. The studies provide documentation or other
						support necessary to solve specific problems identified in the update
						revision.
(iv)
Supplement
-A sewage facilities planning module for a
						subdivision for new land development which will not be served by sewage
						facilities requiring a new or modified permit from the Department under The
						Clean Streams Law, and which is reviewed and approved by a delegated
						agency.
(v)
Exception to
						the requirement to revise
-A process established in §
												71.55 (relating to exceptions to
						the requirement to revise the official plan for new land development) which
						describes the criteria under which a revision for new land development is not
						required.
Person
-An individual, association,
						  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
						  another legal entity which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and
						  duties. The term includes the 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.
Residential subdivision plan
-A
						  subdivision in which at least two-thirds of the proposed daily sewage flows
						  will be generated by residential uses.
Retaining tank
-A watertight
						  receptacle which receives and retains sewage and is designed and constructed to
						  facilitate ultimate disposal of the sewage at another site. The term
						  includes:
(i)
Chemical
						toilet
-A permanent or portable nonflushing toilet using chemical
						treatment in the retaining tank for odor control.
(ii)
Holding tank
-A tank,
						whether permanent or temporary, to which sewage is conveyed by a water carrying
						system.
(iii)
Privy
-A tank designed to receive sewage where water under
						pressure is not available.
(iv)
Incinerating toilet
-A device capable of reducing waste
						materials to ashes.
(v)
Composting toilet
-A device for holding and processing human
						and organic kitchen waste employing the process of biological degradation
						through the action of microorganisms to produce a stable, humus-like
						material.
(vi)
Recycling
						toilet
-A device in which the flushing medium is restored to a
						condition suitable for reuse in flushing.
Sewage
-A substance that contains the
						  waste products or excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings
						  or animals and noxious or deleterious substances being harmful or inimical to
						  the public health, or to animal or aquatic life, or to the use of water for
						  domestic water supply or for recreation. The term includes any substance which
						  constitutes pollution under The Clean Streams Law.
Sewage enforcement officer
-An official
						  of the local agency who reviews permit applications and sewage facilities
						  planning modules, issues permits as authorized by the act and conducts
						  investigations and inspections that are necessary to implement the act and the
						  regulations thereunder.
Sewage facilities
-A system of sewage
						  collection, conveyance, treatment and disposal which will prevent the discharge
						  of untreated or inadequately treated sewage or other waste into waters of this
						  Commonwealth or otherwise provide for the safe and sanitary treatment and
						  disposal of sewage or other waste. The term includes:
(i)
Individual sewage
						system-
A system of piping, tanks or other facilities serving a single
						lot and collecting and disposing of sewage in whole or in part into the soil or
						into waters of this Commonwealth or by means of conveyance to another site for
						final disposal. The term includes:
(A)
Individual onlot sewage system
-An individual sewage system
						which uses a system of piping, tanks or other facilities for collecting,
						treating and disposing of sewage into a soil absorption area or spray field or
						by retention in a retaining tank.
(B)
Individual sewerage
						system
-An individual sewage system which uses a method of sewage
						collection, conveyance, treatment and disposal other than renovation in a soil
						absorption area, or retention in a retaining tank.