(a) No
person may install, award a contract for construction or construct an
individual or community onlot sewage system, or install, construct, occupy or
use a building to be served by that system without first obtaining a permit
from the local agency, except as provided in subsections (c)-(e).
(b) A permit shall be required by the local
agency for alterations or connections to an existing individual or community
onlot sewage system when the alteration or connection requires the repair,
replacement or enlargement of a treatment tank or retention tank, or the
repair, replacement, disturbance, modification or enlargement of a soil
absorption area or spray field, or the soil within or under the soil absorption
area or spray field.
(c) Multiple
installations of chemical toilets or other portable toilets proposed for
temporary use at a construction site, a recreation activity or a temporary
facility shall be covered by one permit.
(d) A permit is not required for the
installation of a recycling toilet, incinerating toilet, composting toilet or
other type of water conservation device where the existing onlot system will
not be altered.
(e) Except when a
local agency or municipality requires a permit by ordinance, no permit or
official plan revision is required for the installation of an individual onlot
sewage system for a residential structure occupied or intended to be occupied
by the property owner or a member of the property owner's immediate family on a
contiguous tract of land 10 acres or more if the owner of the property was the
owner of record as of January 10, 1987. For the purposes of this subsection,
the term "immediate family" means a brother, sister, son, daughter, stepson,
stepdaughter, grandson, granddaughter, father or mother of the property
owner.
(f) The installation of a
permit-exempt system under subsection (e) is not required to be approved by or
meet the standards of the Department or local agency under their rules and
regulations for the siting, design or installation of onlot sewage systems,
except for the siting requirements of subsection (g), unless a permit is
required by a regulation or ordinance of a local agency or municipality, or the
person qualifying for the permit exemption chooses to not use the permit
exemption. A permit exemption may also be granted where a 10-acre parcel or lot
is subdivided from a parent tract after January 10, 1987. When one permit
exemption has been granted for a lot, tract or parcel under this section, any
lot, tract or parcel remaining after subdivision of the lot or parcel which
received the permit exemption or any lots or parcels subdivided from either
lot, tract or parcel in the future will not be eligible for a 10-acre permit
exemption and shall meet the planning, permitting, siting and construction
standards of the Department relating to onlot sewage systems. Owners of a lot,
tract or parcel which otherwise qualified for the permit exemption, who do not
choose to use the permit exemption remain exempt from the planning requirements
of the act with respect to that lot, tract or parcel.
(g) Owners of property qualifying for a
permit exemption under subsections (e) and (f) shall install permit-exempt
systems in accordance with the following siting requirements.
(1) The perimeter of the septic tanks and
absorption area shall be located at least 200 feet from the perimeter of any
property line, nonutility right-of-way, 100-year floodplain or any river,
stream, creek, impoundment, well, watercourse, storm sewer, lake, dammed water,
pond, spring, ditch, wetland, water supply or any other body of surface water
and 10 feet from any utility right-of-way.
(2) Before a person who meets the
requirements of subsections (e) and (f) for a permit-exempt system installs a
system, the person shall notify the local agency of the installation and shall
provide documentation relating to the siting requirement of this subsection
which is satisfactory to the local agency. The local agency may charge a fee,
not to exceed $25, to verify that the system is located in accordance with the
siting requirements.
(h)
A permit is not required when a new dwelling is proposed to replace a
previously existing dwelling when the local agency determines that the size and
anticipated use of the new dwelling, as determined under §§
73.16 and
73.17 (relating to requirements
for absorption areas; and sewage flows), are the same as or less than those of
the previously existing dwelling and the previously existing dwelling was in
use within 1 year of the anticipated date of completion of construction of the
new dwelling. This exception does not apply when an active investigation of a
malfunction is under way by the local agency or the Department.