§ 71.51. General.
(a) A municipality shall revise its official plan when:
(1) A new subdivision is proposed, except as provided by § 71.55 (relating to exceptions to the requirement to revise the official plan for new land development) or subsection (b).
(2) The official plan, or its parts, is inadequate to meet the sewage needs of the new land development.
(3) Newly discovered or changed facts, conditions or circumstances make the plan inadequate to meet the sewage needs of new land developments.
(4) A permit is required from the Department under section 5 of The Clean Streams Law (35 P. S. § 691.5).
(b) Except for new land developments proposing the use of retaining tanks, exemptions from sewage facilities planning for new land development will be processed as follows:
(1) Revisions for new land development, exceptions to the requirement to revise and supplements are not required, and permits for onlot systems using a soil absorption area or a spray field may be issued without this planning, when the Department or, in the case of supplements, a delegated agency determines that the following have been met:
(i) The official plan shows that those areas of the municipality are to be served by onlot sewage disposal facilities using a soil absorption area or a spray field as confirmed by signature of the municipal officials.
(ii) The area proposed for the use of individual or community sewage systems is not underlain by carbonate geology nor is this area within 1/4 mile of water supplies documented to exceed 5 PPM nitrate-nitrogen as confirmed by the Department from a USGS geology map or sampling data.
(iii) The area proposed for development is outside of high quality or exceptional value watersheds established under the regulations and policies promulgated under The Clean Streams Law as confirmed by the Department from the location of the new land development on a USGS topographic quadrangle map.
(iv) Subdivided lots and the remaining portion of the original tract after subdivision are 1 acre or larger as confirmed by signature of the applicant.
(v) Complete soils testing and site evaluation establish that separate sites are available for both a permittable primary soil absorption area or spray field and a replacement soil absorption area or spray field on each lot of the subdivision as confirmed by a signed report of the sewage enforcement officer serving the municipality in which the new land development is proposed. The local agency or municipality may require deed restrictions or take other actions it deems necessary to protect the replacement soil absorption area or spray field from damage which would make it unsuitable for future use.
(2) Revisions for new land development and supplements are not required for subdivisions proposing a connection to or an extension of public sewers when all of the following have been met:
(i) The Department or delegated agency determines that existing collection, conveyance and treatment facilities are in compliance with The Clean Streams Law and the rules and regulations thereunder.
(ii) The Department or delegated agency determines that the permittees of the receiving sewerage facilities have submitted information under Chapter 94 (relating to municipal wasteload management) which documents that the existing collection, conveyance and treatment system does not have an existing hydraulic or organic overload or 5-year projected overload.
(iii) The applicant has provided written certification from the permittees of the collection, conveyance and treatment facilities to the municipality in which the subdivision is located and the Department or delegated agency with jurisdiction over the municipality in which the subdivision is located that there is capacity to receive and treat the sewage flows from the applicant’s proposed new land development and that the additional wasteload from the proposed new land development will not create a hydraulic or organic overload or 5-year projected overload.
(iv) The municipality has a current approved sewage facilities plan update revision which is being implemented. For the purposes of exempting a subdivision from completing sewage facilities planning under this section, the phrase ‘‘a current approved sewage facilities plan update revision which is being implemented’’ shall include official plans of municipalities which are not under an order from the Department to submit an update revision or special study for the area in which the subdivision is proposed.
(3) The Department will provide delegated agencies sufficient information to make the required determinations under paragraphs (1)(ii) and (iii), (2)(i), (ii) and (iv). When the determination under paragraph (1) or (2) is made by a delegated agency, that agency shall submit to the Department quarterly reports which include the names of the subdivisions, location of the subdivisions, number of lots and projected sewage flows for each subdivision exempted from the planning provisions under this subsection.
(4) Information in support of a request for a sewage facilities planning exemption under this section shall be submitted on a form provided by the Department.
(5) This subsection does not apply to new land development proposals intended to be served by sewage facilities which require or which must apply for a new or modified permit from the Department under The Clean Streams Law.
Authority The provisions of this § 71.51 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).
Source The provisions of this § 71.51 adopted August 13, 1971, effective August 14, 1971, 1 Pa.B. 1649; amended April 28, 1972, effective May 15, 1972, 2 Pa.B. 753; amended September 28, 1973, effective October 15, 1973, 3 Pa.B. 2176; amended August 30, 1974, effective September 16, 1974, 4 Pa.B. 1805; amended February 28, 1975, effective March 17, 1975, 5 Pa.B. 374; amended June 9, 1989, effective June 10, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 2429; amended November 7, 1997, effective November 8, 1997, 27 Pa.B. 5877. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (206578) to (206579).
Notes of Decisions Cease and Desist
The issuance of a cease and desist order to restrain violation of this section is unauthorized when it was not proved that an addition to a mobile home park and the installation of an on-lot sewage disposal system created an unsanitary condition or nuisance. Commonwealth v. Trask, 71 Pa. D. & C.2d 203 (1974).
Holding Tank
When a permit for a septic tank system was revoked while the service station was under construction and the applicant was informed that a holding tank was the only available system, the requirement that there be an official plan providing for holding tanks at the site of the applicant and an ordinance providing for maintenance unreasonably deprives the applicant of the use of his property. Shell Oil Co. v. Bucks County Department of Health, 73 Pa. D. & C.2d 91 (1975).
Although there is no authority in the Sewage Facilities Act to condition the granting of an individual sewage system upon compliance with the provisions of 25 Pa. Code § 71.51 (relating to restrictions on use). The Clean Streams Law authorizes the adoption of reasonable restrictions on the use of holding tanks for sewage. Shell Oil Co. v. Bucks County Department of Health, 73 Pa. D. & C.2d 91 (1975).
Since a privy is a type of holding tank which cannot be distinguished on the basis that it does not receive waste water and does not require the kind of authorization or servicing necessary for holding tanks, a permit for a privy should be denied where water pressure is available and there is no official municipal sewerage facilities plan that would allow a privy on the property of the applicant. Brooks v. Upper Frederick Township, 68 Pa. D. & C.2d 509 (Pa. Environ. H. Bd. 1975).
Cross References This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 71.83 (relating to Department fees); and 25 Pa. Code § 72.23 (relating to limitation on onlot system permit issuance).
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