THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY ALLOWAY, WAUGH, ERICKSON, HUGHES, ARGALL, PILEGGI AND McILHINNEY, NOVEMBER 14, 2011

REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, NOVEMBER 14, 2011  

AN ACT

Amending the act of July 31, 1968 (P.L.805, No.247), entitled,

as amended, "An act to empower cities of the second class A,

and third class, boroughs, incorporated towns, townships of

the first and second classes including those within a county

of the second class and counties of the second through eighth

classes, individually or jointly, to plan their development

and to govern the same by zoning, subdivision and land

development ordinances, planned residential development and

other ordinances, by official maps, by the reservation of

certain land for future public purpose and by the acquisition

of such land; to promote the conservation of energy through

the use of planning practices and to promote the effective

utilization of renewable energy sources; providing for the

establishment of planning commissions, planning departments,

planning committees and zoning hearing boards, authorizing

them to charge fees, make inspections and hold public

hearings; providing for mediation; providing for transferable

development rights; providing for appropriations, appeals to

courts and penalties for violations; and repealing acts and

parts of acts," providing for wastewater processing

cooperative planning.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  The act of July 31, 1968 (P.L. 805, No. 247),

known as the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, is

amended by adding an article to read:

ARTICLE XI-A

WASTEWATER PROCESSING COOPERATIVE PLANNING

Section 1101-A.  Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this article

shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the

context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Wastewater system."  Manager of a wastewater system or

municipal officials of the municipality in which the wastewater

system exists if a manager is not employed to oversee the

system.

Section 1102-A.  Notification requirement.

(a)  Notice to wastewater systems.--Notwithstanding any other

provision of law, an applicant who files an application for

development, plat approval or planned residential development or

for waiver of land development under this act or who files an

application for a construction permit under section 502 of the

act of November 10, 1999 (P.L. 491, No. 45), known as the

Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, shall provide written

notification of filing of application to any wastewater system

serving the municipality in which the application is filed. A

copy of the written notification shall be provided by the

applicant to the municipality.

(b)  Failure to notify.--No application covered by subsection

(a) may be deemed by the municipality to be administratively

complete until the municipality receives a copy of the written

notification required by subsection (a).

Section 1103-A.  Review by wastewater systems.

(a)  Wastewater systems review.--

(1)  Upon receipt of the notification required under

section 1102-A, a wastewater system shall review the

notification to determine the impact of the application on

the wastewater system. The wastewater system may request

additional information, including a copy of the application,

from the applicant.

(2)  Review by the wastewater system must be completed

within 30 days of receipt of the notification required under

section 1102-A. For good cause shown, a system may request

and the municipality shall grant an extension of up to 15

days for completion of the review. If a municipality does not

receive any notice from the wastewater system within these

time frames, the municipality shall proceed with the

application as if the application is in compliance with the

requirements of the wastewater system.

(b)  Notification of results of review.--Upon completion of

the review required under subsection (a), the wastewater system

shall notify the applicant and the municipality in writing of

its findings, which shall include a statement regarding the

expected impact of the application on the current system. If the

application will cause an adverse impact on or is not in

compliance with the requirements of the wastewater system, the

wastewater system shall include specific reasons causing the

adverse impact and the actions required to be taken by the

applicant to address such impact.

(c)  Approval of applications.--Notwithstanding any other

provisions of law, a municipality shall not approve an

application for development, plat approval or planned

residential development under this act and no application for a

construction permit under section 502 of the act of November 10,

1999 (P.L. 491, No. 45), known as the Pennsylvania Construction

Code Act, until the wastewater system has notified the

municipality that the application is in compliance with the

requirements of the wastewater system.

Section 1104-A.  Criteria for review.

The criteria for review under this article shall be:

(1)  to ensure that existing public wastewater systems

are capable of meeting the needs resulting from new

development, redevelopment, change of or intensification of

use and construction projects;

(2)  to identify areas where growth, development,

redevelopment, change of and intensification of use or

construction will occur so that public wastewater treatment

and infrastructure services can be adequately planned and

provided as needed;

(3)  to encourage cooperation and coordinated planning

among municipalities and public wastewater systems;

(4)  to ensure that existing public wastewater systems

are provided with information necessary to adequately plan

for increases in system demand; and

(5)  to protect the health, safety and welfare of the

citizens of this Commonwealth by establishing a process for

ensuring that demands on public wastewater systems do not

exceed the capacity of those systems.

Section 2.  The act of November 10, 1999 (P.L. 491, No. 45),

known as the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, is repealed to

the extent that it is inconsistent with the provisions of this

act.

Section 3.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.