CHAPTER 50:  PRIVATE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEMS
Section
   50.01   Purpose
   50.02   Definitions
   50.03   General requirements
   50.04   Permits for installation, alteration, repair, or addition
   50.05   Permits and inspections
   50.06   Approved installers
   50.07   Installation, construction, maintenance, operation, and repair requirements
   50.08   Prohibited acts
   50.09   Violations; investigation; corrective action
   50.10   Enforcement procedure; hearings
 
   50.99   Penalty
§ 50.01  PURPOSE.
   This chapter regulates the construction, maintenance, and operation of private sewage disposal systems and provides penalties for violation of these regulations. In addition, the Indiana State Board of Health rule 410 I.A.C. 6-8.1 is adopted by reference.
(Ord. 1992-1, passed 5-6-1992)
§ 50.02  DEFINITIONS.
   For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
   ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY.  This chapter shall be administered by the Greene County Board of Health through its Health Officer and his or her authorized representatives.
   BUILDING SITES.  All areas, regardless of acreage, situated within Greene County, upon which are located residential, business, recreational, or other buildings.
   DWELLING.  Any house or place used or intended to be used as a place of seasonal or permanent human habitation or for sleeping for one or more families.
   FLOOD PLAIN.  That area so designated on the Federal Flood Insurance Rate Maps, those designated areas determined by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, or those designated areas determined by the Greene County Health Department, to be within the contours defined as the 100-year flood.
   HEALTH DEPARTMENT.  The Greene County Health Department, which is the full time county health department and includes the Greene County Board of Health, the Greene County Health Officer, and authorized representatives of the Health Officer.
   HEALTH OFFICER.  The County Health Officer or his or her duly authorized representative.
   HOLDING TANK.  A self-contained, leak proof, watertight reservoir used for the purposes of collection and temporary storage of sewage wastes prior to proper disposal at an approved disposal facility (for example, a municipal sewage treatment plant) by a State Department of Health licensed septic tank cleaner.
   MULTIPLE FAMILY DWELLING UNIT.  A duplex, triples, or quadriplex. More than four separate living units are considered an apartment building and do not fall under this definition.
   OWNER.  That person or his or her agent reported as the legal possessor of a dwelling or property.
   PERMIT.  A written document issued by the Health Department authorizing a person to install, construct, maintain, alter, operate, or repair a private sewage disposal system as per an approved plan, design, and specification complying with the provisions of this chapter.
   PERSON.  Any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, trust, estate, or any other legal entity, its or their successors or assigns, or agents of the aforesaid.
   PLANNED COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT.  A building, structure, or grouping of buildings or structures, constructed predominately for commercial or industrial uses, located on a lot or group of contiguous lots held under single, joint, or common ownership or lease.
   PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT.  A group of buildings constructed for residential use, including approved ancillary commercial use, located on a lot or group of contiguous lots held under single, joint, or common ownership.
   PRIVATE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM FAILURE.  A system which exhibits one or more of the following:
      (1)   The system refuses to accept sewage at the rate of design application thereby interfering with the normal use of plumbing fixtures;
      (2)   The effluent discharge exceeds the absorptive capacity of the soil, resulting in ponding, seepage, or other discharge of the effluent to the ground surface or to surface waters; or
      (3)   The effluent is discharged from the system causing contamination of a potable water supply, ground water, or surface waters.
   PUBLIC SEWER.  Any conduit for sewage constructed, installed, maintained, operated, owned, or defined as such by a municipality, taxing district, or a corporation or organization possessing a Certificate of Territorial Authority issued by the Indiana Public Service Commission and established for that purpose. A system of conduits installed for the purpose of carrying surface water runoff and subsoil drainage shall not be considered a public sewer under this definition.
   PRIVATE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM.  Any sewage disposal system not constructed, installed, maintained, operated, and owned by a municipality, a taxing district, or a corporation or organization possessing a Certificate of Territorial Authority issued by the Indiana Public Service Commission and established for that purpose.
   RISER.  A vertical port of cylindrical concrete 20 to 24 inches in diameter extending to the ground surface with a gas tight seal.
   SANITARY PRIVY.  A fly-tight, rodent proof privy for the disposal of body waste as presented in State Department of Health Bulletin S.E. 11, and amendments thereto, except that the pit or vault shall be an approved septic tank with the outlet sealed.
   SEPTIC TANK ABSORPTION FIELD SYSTEM.  Includes the sewer from the house to the septic tank, the septic tank, the septic tank effluent sewer, the pump, pump tank and related items as may be required, the distribution box(es), and the underground absorption seepage lines.
   SEWAGE.  The water-carried waste derived from ordinary living processes, including, but not limited to, human excrete and waste water derived from water closets, urinals, laundries, sinks, utensil washing machines, bathing facilities, or similar facilities or appliances.
   SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM.  Any arrangement of devices and structures used for receiving, treating, disposing, or storing of sewage.
   SEWER.  A pipe or conduit for conveying sewage.
   SOIL INVENTORY AND EVALUATION REPORT.  The written report of a soil scientist giving characteristics and qualities of the soil that affect the suitability for absorbing waste from private sewage disposal systems, including, but not limited to, soil permeability, soil loading rate, percolation rate, ground water level, depth to bedrock, flooding hazards, and slope.
   SOIL LOADING RATE.  The allowable rate of application of septic tank effluent to the soil expressed in gallons per day per square foot of trench bottom area.
   SOIL SCIENTIST.  An individual qualified, as determined by the Indiana State Department of Health, to characterize the qualities of the soil that affect the suitability for absorbing waste from private onsite sewage disposal systems and to properly prepare the appropriate SOIL INVENTORY AND EVALUATION REPORT.
(Ord. 1992-1, passed 5-6-1992)
§ 50.03  GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.
   (A)   No person shall throw, run, drain, seep, or otherwise dispose of; or cause, permit, or suffer to be thrown, run, drained, allowed to seep, or otherwise disposed of into any of the surface waters or ground waters of this state; or in an insanitary manner upon public or private property within Greene County; or in any area under the jurisdiction of Greene County; any organic matter that would cause or contribute to a health hazard on such property unless a permit for such disposal has been obtained from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
   (B)   At such time as a public sewer comes within 300 feet of any house, building, or structure used for human occupancy, employment, recreation, or other purpose and served by a private sewage disposal system, a direct connection to the public sewer shall be required should the existing system fail or constitute a health hazard. The system repositories shall be abandoned and filled with suitable granular material, and the house, building, or structure shall be connected to the public sanitary sewer within 90 days after the official notice to do so from the Health Department.
   (C)   Where a public sanitary or combined sewer is not available, all persons owning or leasing property shall comply with the provisions of this chapter for private sewage disposal systems.
   (D)   The design, construction, installation, location, maintenance, and operation of private sewage disposal systems shall comply with the provisions of this chapter and the standards of the Indiana State Department of Health rules 410 I.A.C. 6-8.1 and 6-10.
   (E)   Should any defects exist or occur in any private sewage disposal system which would cause said sewage disposal system to fail and cause an insanitary condition, the defect shall be corrected by the owner or agent of the owner, or by the occupant or agent of the occupant. Failure to comply with said correction is subject to the penalties as prescribed.
   (F)   If any conditions preclude the installation of a sewage disposal system as described in this chapter, the Greene County Health Department may approve the use of whatever alternative sewage disposal system is deemed appropriate, only under the provisions cited in 410 I.A.C. 6-8.1-31.
   (G)   No portion of the private sewage disposal system or its associated drainage system shall be constructed upon property other than that from which the sewage originates, unless easements, which grant permission for such construction and access for system maintenance, have been obtained for that property and have been legally approved and recorded by the proper authority or commission.
   (H)   Any dwelling which is not connected, or cannot be connected to a sanitary sewerage system, and which does not utilize a sanitary privy for its residential sewage disposal system, shall be provided with a residential sewage disposal system which includes a septic tank and a soil absorption system that has not failed.
(Ord. 1992-1, passed 5-6-1992)
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