PRINTER'S NO. 2529
No. 1913 Session of 1985
INTRODUCED BY BOYES, STEIGHNER, GREENWOOD AND FREEMAN,
NOVEMBER 20, 1985
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION, NOVEMBER 20, 1985
AN ACT
1 Requiring that certain defects or breakdowns of municipal sewage
2 systems and municipal sewer authority systems be reported and
3 investigated; and providing penalties.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Notification of defects or breakdowns.
7 Any officer, employee or agent of a municipal sewage system
8 or municipal authority sewage system who knows or has reason to
9 believe that a defect or breakdown in the operation of a sewage
10 treatment plant or other portion of the sewage system has
11 occurred shall notify the manager of the system of the defect or
12 breakdown if the officer, employee or agent knows or has reason
13 to believe that the defect or breakdown has caused or may cause
14 a primary maximum contaminant level to be exceeded in the public
15 drinking water or public bathing water, or that the defect or
16 breakdown may otherwise adversely affect such water.
17 Section 2. Followup notifications.
18 Within 24 hours from the time that the manager of a municipal
1 sewage system or municipal authority sewage system knows or has
2 reason to believe that a defect or breakdown in the operation of
3 a sewage treatment plant or other portion of a sewage treatment
4 system has occurred and that the defect or breakdown has caused
5 or may cause a primary maximum contaminant level to be exceeded
6 in the public drinking water or public bathing water, or may
7 otherwise adversely affect such water, the manager shall notify
8 the chief executive officer of the municipality, the Department
9 of Environmental Resources and the county health department of
10 all known facts and circumstances surrounding the defect or
11 breakdown in the sewage system and its potential impact upon the
12 public drinking water or public bathing water.
13 Section 3. Investigations.
14 Within 24 hours after the receipt of notification, the
15 Department of Environmental Resources shall conduct an
16 investigation into the potential public health impact of the
17 defect or breakdown in the community sewage system, including,
18 but not limited to, a determination of any adverse effect on the
19 public drinking water or public bathing water, the origin of the
20 problem, if known, and the approximate length of time necessary
21 to restore the drinking water or bathing water to normal
22 conditions. The department may designate the county health
23 department as the agency for the conduct of such an
24 investigation. As used in this section, the term "county health
25 department" includes a joint county health department.
26 Section 4. Civil penalties.
27 The Department of Environmental Resources shall impose a
28 civil penalty of not more than $1,000 per day, up to a maximum
29 of $5,000 per incident, upon any individual who fails to comply
30 with any duty of notification imposed under section 1 or 2.
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1 Except as otherwise provided in section 5, the municipality or
2 municipal authority shall not pay any penalty imposed on any
3 individual for a violation of this act and shall not indemnify
4 any individual for any payment of such penalty.
5 Section 5. Employees to be informed.
6 The manager of a municipal sewage system or a municipal
7 authority sewage system shall provide each existing employee and
8 each new employee with a copy of this act. If the Department of
9 Environmental Resources determines that an employee's failure to
10 notify the manager of a defect or breakdown was due to the fact
11 that the employee did not receive a copy of this act, the
12 department shall order the manager responsible for such a
13 failure to pay the civil fine in lieu of the employee.
14 Section 6. Effective date.
15 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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