A. General. For the purposes of this Ordinance, certain terms and phrases shall be deemed to have the meaning described to them in this Section. Words in the singular number include the plural, those in the plural number include the singular. Words in the present tense include the past and future tenses, and the future tense includes the present tense. The masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter genders. The word “shall” is mandatory, while the word “may” is permissive.
B. TERMS DEFINED
“ACCESSIBLE” as it pertains to a sanitary sewer means that the sewer is located in a public right-of-way or easement contiguous to the property. Further provided that the sewer or a service stub can be reached without excessive tunneling or boring under a roadway, building, or flowing stream, and that the sewer or service stub is not further than 300 feet from the residential property line or 1000 feet from the property line of the non-residential building to be served. It is not the intent for an individual to subsidize the extension costs of a sanitary sewer system; therefore, only an individual connection with an individual line will be required.
“ACCESSORY STRUCTURE” means any structure with a roof that is not attached to the dwelling.
“AEROBIC TREATMENT UNIT” means a sewage treatment unit, which incorporates a means of introducing air into sewage so as to provide aerobic biochemical stabilization during a detention period.
“ARCPACS” means A Federation of Certifying Boards of Agriculture, Biology, Earth and Environmental Sciences.
“APPLICANT” means the property owner as defined herein or his or its authorized agent.
“APPROVED” as it pertains to an on-site disposal system means constructed and installed in compliance with technical standards and requirements of this Ordinance. “APPROVED” installation does not imply or ensure that a system will perform satisfactorily.
“AVAILABLE” means that the property owner has a right to connect to the sanitary sewer, or the municipality is allowing the construction.
“BEDROOM” for the purpose of establishing the rate of flow for domestic sewage, means any room containing a closet, which is suitable to regular use as a bedroom and which shares a common hallway with or is adjoining at least a 3/4 bath.
“BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND” (BOD) is an empirical test that measures the oxygen required for the biochemical degradation of organic material and the oxygen used to oxidize inorganic material such as sulfides and ferrous iron.
“CHEMICAL TOILET” means a toilet structure equipped with a watertight impervious container, which receives waste, discharged through a hopper, seat, urinal or similar device and into which container may be placed disinfecting or deodorizing chemicals. For the purposes of this Ordinance, chemical toilet and portable toilet shall have the same meaning.
“COUNTY” means the County of McHenry, Illinois.
“CRITICAL SOILS” are those soil materials that have been disturbed and/or have natural limitations including seasonal or actual water tables, permeabilities slower than moderately slow, or bedrock, extensive enough to require alternative systems or are perhaps so limited as to preclude the practicality of on-site domestic wastewater treatment.
“DEPARTMENT” means the McHenry County Department of Health.
“DISCHARGE RATE” means the volume of effluent discharged from a low-pressure distribution system expressed as gallons per minute and applied as a rate either per perforation, per line, or per system.
“DISTAL END PRESSURE” means a measure of system pressure in a low-pressure distribution system made at the end of a lateral distribution pipe opposite the force main connection, and expressed as feet of pressure head.
“DOMESTIC SEWAGE” means wastewater derived principally from plumbing fixture drains in dwellings, business or office buildings, institutions, food establishments, and similar facilities. It shall not include industrial or commercial processing waste.
“EFFECTIVE SIZE” means the size of screen opening where 90 percent by weight of a sample of sand is retained on the screen and 10 percent passes through the screen. This size is usually expressed in millimeters.
“EFFECTIVE SOIL DEPTH” means the depth of slightly or moderately limited soil material lying above a restrictive soil layer such as clay, hardpan, or bedrock.
“EFFLUENT” means the outflow from a tank or other treatment unit.
“EFFLUENT FILTER” means a device installed at the outflow of a septic tank, which screens solids ordinarily suspended in solution.
“EXISTING SQUARE FOOTAGE” means the habitable square footage of the structure in place as of the adoption date of this Ordinance.
“FLOOD ELEVATION, BASE” means the regulatory elevations established by the methods adopted by the McHenry County Stormwater Management Ordinance and which establish the limit of intrusion or retainment of a “100 year flood event” or that flood having a one percent probability of occurring in any given year.
“FLOOD HAZARD AREA” means any area composed of floodplain land.
“FLOODPLAIN” means that land typically adjacent to a body of water with ground surface elevations at or below the base flood elevation or the 100-year frequency flood elevation. Floodplains may also include detached Special Flood Hazard Areas, ponding areas, etc. The floodplain is also known as the Special Flood Hazard Area.
“GRAVELLESS SEEPAGE SYSTEM” means the use of approved perforated 8 inch or 10 inch diameter, filter wrapped, plastic pipe, or chamber systems as approved by the Illinois Department of Public Health, in lieu of 4 inch pipe and gravel, in subsurface fields and serial distribution systems.
“HABITABLE” means any room or enclosed floor space with electric and heat intended to be used for living, sleeping, or eating purposes including bathrooms, hallways, and closets but not including attics, garages or unfinished basements.
“HEALTH AUTHORITY” means the Administrator of the McHenry County Department of Health, or his designated agent.
“HOT TUB” means an artificial container of water with a liquid capacity greater than 100 gallons and designed with a mechanical air injection system and/or recirculating device. These devices may filter and/or disinfect the water for reuse and are not intended to be drained between uses.
“HUMAN WASTE” means the normal excretory waste of the human body.
“INDIVIDUAL SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM” means a sewage treatment system or part thereof serving a dwelling or other establishment or group thereof which utilizes subsurface soil treatment and disposal.
“LICENSED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PRACTITIONER” means a person who is licensed as an environmental health practitioner per 225 ILCS 37/17.
“LIMITING LAYER” means a horizon or condition in the soil profile or underlying strata which includes:
a. A seasonal high water table, whether perched or regional, determined by direct observation of the water table or indicated by soil mottling where common mottles comprise at least 2% to 20% of the soil in a progressive downward direction in the soil, whichever is more restrictive.
b. Masses of loose rock fragments, including gravel, with insufficient fine soil to fill the voids between the fragments.
c. Rock formation, other stratum or soil condition, which is so slowly permeable that it effectively limits downward passage of effluent.
“LIQUID CAPACITY” means the internal volume of a tank below the invert of the outlet line.
“LOT” means a lot of record which is a part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been duly authorized and recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds of McHenry County, Illinois, and which is intended to be used as a unit by one (1) principal building and its accessory buildings.
“NRCS” means Natural Resource Conservation Service.
“NSF” means NSF International, an independent testing laboratory.
“NON-CRITICAL SOILS” are those undisturbed soil materials that can support a conventional private sewage disposal system, where at least the lower portion (six inches minimum) of the soil absorption part of the system can be installed in original, un-compacted (undisturbed) soil.
“NON-RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY” means any property that is not used for a single family home.
“ONE FOR ONE REPLACEMENT” means a replacement structure of the same number of bedrooms (for commercial properties the same estimated domestic sewage flows and type of operation) and the same square footage of habitable space as of the adoption date of this Ordinance or indicated on the most recently issued construction permit.
“ORIGINAL SOIL SURFACE” means the natural or native soil surface exclusive of fill material.
“PARCEL” means an area of land described by metes and bounds or by division, making reference to the original government survey. For purposes of this ordinance, a parcel is not a LOT.
“PERMEABILITY” means the ease with which liquids move through a soil.
“PERSON” means any individual, group of individuals, association, trust, partnership, corporation, person doing business under an assumed name, or any other entity, government and/or private.
“PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT” means the McHenry County Department of Planning and Development.
“POROUS EARTH FILL” means mineral soil, not organic soil such as peat or muck. The organic matter content shall be less than 6%. Soil texture shall include silt loam, loam, or sandy clay loam, or sandy loam of a consistent USDA texture. Clay content shall range from 10% to 27%, and sand content shall range from 30% to 80%. The content of gravel (>2mm) shall be less than 5% by volume. Clods shall be less than 10% by volume and less than four (4) inches in size. The material shall be free of extraneous, non-soil material such as construction or vegetative debris.
“PORTABLE TOILET” see CHEMICAL TOILET.
“POTENTIAL SECONDARY SOURCE” means any unit at a facility or a site not currently subject to a removal or remedial action, other than a potential primary source, which:
a. Is utilized for the landfilling, land treating, or surface impounding of waste that is generated on the site or at other sites, owned, controlled or operated by the same person, other than livestock and landscape waste, and construction and demolition debris: or
b. Stores or accumulates at any time more than 25,000 but not more than 75,000 pounds above ground, or more than 2,500 but not more than 7,500 pounds below ground, of any hazardous substances: or
c. Stores or accumulates at any time more than 25,000 gallons above ground, or more than 500 gallons below ground, of petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof which is not otherwise specifically listed or designated as a hazardous substance: or
d. Stores or accumulates pesticides, fertilizers, or road oils for purposes of commercial application or for distribution to retail sales outlets; or stores or accumulates at any time more than 50,000 pounds of any de-icing agent: or
e. Is utilized for handling livestock waste or for treating domestic wastewaters other than private sewage disposal systems as defined in the “Private Sewage Disposal Licensing Act” (Section 3.3355 of the Environmental Protection Act.
“PRIVATE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM” means any sewage handling or treatment facility receiving domestic sewage for disposal on the property where it was generated, or on property where the same owner has legal access, and having no ground surface discharge there or on any parcel, lot or property. Private Sewage Disposal System shall also mean septic system.
“PRIVATE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM IN ACCEPTABLE CONDITION” means a septic tank or aeration device that does not have actual or indications of effluent levels over the outlet pipe and an absorption area (mound, field, trench, chamber, etc) that does not have actual or indications of sewage on the ground surface, or ponding in the trench or seepage bed above the stone level, gravelless pipe or chamber.
“PRIVATE SEWAGE DISPOSAL INSTALLATION CONTRACTOR” means any person operating with a valid license from the Illinois Department of Public Health for the constructing, installing, repairing, modifying or maintaining private sewage disposal systems.
“PRIVATE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM CLASSIFIED AS A CLASS V INJECTION WELL” means any private sewage disposal system considered to be a Class V injection well under the 35 Illinois Administrative Code Part 704.
“PRIVATE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM PUMPING CONTRACTOR” means any person who cleans or pumps waste from a private sewage disposal system or hauls or disposes of wastes removed therefrom.
“PRIVATE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM PUMPING CONTRACTOR PERMIT” means a permit issued by the Department to a private sewage disposal system pumping contractor, allowing the cleaning or pumping of private sewage disposal systems in McHenry County or hauling and disposing of domestic septage in McHenry County.
“PRIVY” means a structure allowing for the disposal of human excreta into a sealed vault in the ground.
“PROPERTY” means a parcel of land or lot for which legal title has been recorded.
“PROPERTY OWNER” means the person in whose name legal title to property is recorded.
“RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY” means a single family home intended for occupation as living quarters that is not used to conduct any business that generates wastewater or domestic sewage.
“SANITARY SEWER” means a treatment facility permitted by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
“SEASONAL OPERATION” means an operation that operates at a single location for not more than a total of five (5) months per calendar year.
“SEPTAGE” means the liquid and solid material removed from domestic septic tanks or other approved pretreatment systems, and specifically excluding wastes from portable toilets, holding tanks, grease traps and sewage treatment plant sludge material.
“SEPTIC RESTRICTED AREAS” means those areas not considered suitable for septic system installation due to critical soils, excessive slopes, required setback distances, etc.
“SEWAGE” means all of the domestic wastewater and all wastewater other than domestic derived from plumbing fixture drains in a dwelling, business or office building, food establishments, and similar facilities. It shall include industrial and commercial processing waste.
“SOIL BORING” means an observation pit, dug by hand or backhoe, or an undisturbed soil core taken intact and undisturbed by a probe.
“SOIL CLASSIFIER” means the following: A certified soil classifier of the Illinois Soil Classifiers Association (ISCA) or a certified soil classifier with the Federation of Certifying Boards of Agriculture, Biology, Earth and Environmental Sciences (ARCPACS).
“SOIL CHARACTERISTICS, LIMITING” means those soil characteristics which preclude the installation of a Type 1 – Type 5 System (See § 8.04.460 - § 8.04.490 and Illustration 1) including but not limited to fill material, bedrock, soils with permeability of less than .2 inches per hour, actual or seasonal high groundwater tables, etc.
“SOIL MOTTLING” means low chroma equal to or less than 2 and a value of 4 or more (Munsell-Color Chart.)
“SOIL SATURATION” means the state when all the pores in a soil are filled with water.
“SOIL TEXTURAL CLASSIFICATION” means where soil particle sizes or textures are specified in this Ordinance, they refer to soil textural classification in the USDA/NRCS Soil Survey Manual.
“SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA” means any area subject to flooding from a river, creek, intermittent stream, ditch or any other identified channel or ponding and shown on a Flood Hazard Boundary Map or Flood Insurance Rate Map as Zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, A99, AH, VO, V30, VE, V, M, E, D, or X.
“SPECIAL WASTE HOLDING TANK” means a watertight tank, which receives the wastewater discharge from fixtures or drains, which receive waste products such as automotive grease, oils, solvents and chemicals that are not allowed to discharge into a private sewage disposal system.
“SUITABLE SOIL” means soils where the actual or seasonal high groundwater or other limiting layer is a minimum of thirty (30) inches from the natural soil surface.
“TEMPORARY EVENT” means an event that operates at a fixed location for a period of time of not more than fourteen (14) consecutive days in conjunction with a single event or celebration.
“UNIFORMITY COEFFICIENT” means a number obtained by dividing that size of sand in millimeters of which 60% by weight is smaller, by that size of sand in millimeters of which 10% by weight is smaller.
“WASTEWATER” means all wastewater other than domestic sewage derived from plumbing fixture drains in a dwelling, business or office building, food establishments, and similar facilities. It shall include industrial and commercial processing waste.
“WATER TABLE” means the upper limit of the portion of the soil which is completely saturated with water. The seasonal high water table is the highest level to which the soil is saturated, as may be indicated by mottling (soil color patterns).
(Ord. 201711-51-013, passed 11-14-2017)