THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWNSHIP OF SPRINGWATER BY-LAW 2015-034 A By-Law to Implement a Septic System Re-Inspection Program WHEREAS, the malfunctioning of an on-site sewage system can have significant negative impacts on both human health and the environment; and WHEREAS, Section 7(1)(b.1) of the Building Code Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. 23, as amended (the Act ), authorizes the council of a municipality to pass by-laws establishing and governing sewage system maintenance inspection programs in accordance with Division C, Part 1, Section 1.10.1 of the Building Code Act, 1992 Ontario Regulation 332/12 as amended (the Building Code ) hereby referred to as a discretionary maintenance inspection program ; and WHEREAS, Section 7(1)(b.2) of the Act authorizes the council of a municipality to pass by-laws establishing and governing sewage system maintenance inspection programs in accordance with Division C, Part 1, Section 1.10.2 of the Building Code hereby referred to as a mandatory maintenance inspection program ; and WHEREAS, Section 7.(1),( c) of the Act requires the payment of fees for maintenance inspections; and WHEREAS, Section 15.10.1 of the Act allows an inspector to enter upon land and into buildings at any reasonable time without a warrant for the purpose of conducting a maintenance inspection; and WHEREAS, Section 10.1 of the Act prescribes that no person shall operate or maintain a sewage system or permit a sewage system to be operated or maintained except in accordance with the Act and Building Code ; and WHEREAS, Section 10(2) of the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended, provides the ability for a municipality to pass by-laws relating to the health, safety and well being of persons and Section 391 regarding fees and charges for the services; and WHEREAS the intention of the sewage system re-inspection program is to identify and resolve potential hazards associated with malfunctioning sewage system; NOW THEREFORE the Council of the Township of Springwater enacts as follows; THAT in this By-law, 1. SHORT TITLE 1.1 This By-law may be cited as the Septic Re-inspection By-law.
2. DEFINITIONS; For the purpose of this by-law; 2.1 Act means the Building Code Act, 1992, S.O. as amended 2.2 building has the same meaning as provided for in the Act. For the purposes of Section 9 of this By-law, a Building excludes a dwelling unless invited into the dwelling by the owner or agent. 2.2 Building Code means Ontario Regulation 332/12 as amended or as a regulations made under Section 34 of the Act which may include a more recent revision or amendment 2.3 Building Inspector means an Inspector appointed under Section 3 of the Act and having jurisdiction for the enforcement of this Act, the Building Code and this By-law 2.4 By-law Enforcement Officer means an employee or other person appointed by the Township to enforce by-laws. 2.5 Chief Building Official means Chief Building Official appointed under Section 3 of the Act and having jurisdiction for the enforcement of the Act, the Building Code and this By-law. A Chief Building Official is deemed to also be a Building Inspector in accordance with the Act. 2.6 Effluent means sanitary sewage that has passed through a treatment unit, 2.7 Maintenance inspection means an inspection conducted under a maintenance inspection program. 2.8 Maintenance inspection program means a program established under clause 7 (1) (b.1) or subsection 34 (2.2) of the Act. 2.9 Minister means the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. 2.10 Officer means a By-law Enforcement Officer, Building Inspector, Chief Building Official or other person appointed by by-law to enforce the provisions of this by-law. 2.11 Owner means, in respect of the property subject to re-inspection takes place, the registered owner, a lessee and a mortgagee in possession 2.12 Sewage system means, (a) Class 1 sewage system including a chemical toilet, an incinerating toilet, a recirculating toilet, a self-contained portable toilet and all forms of privy, including a portable privy, an earth pit privy, a pail privy, a privy vault and a composting toilet system, (b) Class 2 sewage system also called a greywater system,
(c) Class 3 sewage system also called a cesspool, (d) Class 4 sewage system also called a leaching bed system, or (e) Class 5 sewage system which is a system that requires or uses a holding tank for the retention of hauled sewage at the site where it is produced before its collection by a hauled sewage system, where these, (f) have a design capacity of 10,000 litres per day or less, (g) have, in total, a design capacity of 10,000 litres per day or less, where more than one of these are located on a lot or parcel of land, and (h) are located wholly within the boundaries of the lot or parcel of land on which is located near the building or buildings they serve. 2.13 Significant drinking water threat has the same meaning as in subsection 2 (1) of the Clean Water Act, 2006. 2.14 Township means the Corporation of the Township of Springwater or the land within the geographical limit of The Corporation of Township of Springwater as the contexts requires. 2.15 Treatment Unit means a device that, when designed, installed and operated in accordance with its design specification, provides a specific degree of sanitary sewage treatment to reduce the contaminant load from that of sanitary sewage to a given effluent quality. 2.16 Vulnerable area has the same meaning as in subsection 2 (1) of the Clean Water Act, 2006. 2.17 Any word or terms not defined in this By-law shall have the meaning as ascribed in the Act or Building Code. Terms not defined in the Act or Building Code shall have the same meaning as described in a standard Canadian dictionary 2.18 Any word or terms used in this By-law having a singular meaning may also be understood as being plural, and any word or terms used in this By-law having plural meaning may also be understood as being singular; and 2.19 Whenever any reference is made in this By-law to a statue of the Legislature of the Province of Ontario, such reference shall be deemed to include all subsequent amendments to such statue and all successor legislation to such statute. 3. GENERAL REGULATIONS
3.1 THAT in this by-law, the discretionary maintenance inspection program will apply to all properties within 50m of the shoreline of Orr Lake and as further identified on Schedule A of this by-law that may utilize a sewage system. 3.2 THAT in this by-law, the mandatory maintenance inspection program applies to all properties located within a vulnerable area that are located in a source protection area within the Township and that are identified in the most recent of the following documents as the areas where an activity described or would be deemed as a significant drinking water threat: i) the assessment report for the source protection area, as initially approved under the Clean Water Act, 2006 or as most recently approved following any updating under that Act, or (ii) the source protection plan for the source protection area, as initially approved under the Clean Water Act, 2006 or as most recently approved following any amendments or reviews. Mapping provided in Schedule B is for reference purposes only and may be updated or amended subject to most recent Source Protection plan. 3.3 THAT, in this by-law all treatment units, other than a septic tank, within the Township that the Chief Building Official or designate has been notified or discovered that, i) A service agreement is terminated, or ii) Access for service and maintenance of the treatment unit is denied by the person operating the treatment unit, or iii) Samples of effluent taken from the system do not meet the required allowances as prescribed by the Building Code are included in a reinspection program and this by-law, or iv) Results of effluent samples are not provided as prescribed in the building code or other regulation of the township. 3.4 Section 3.1 shall apply for one round of re-inspections to such sewage systems that are constructed prior to the year 2008 and will not apply to such systems that have been constructed after 2008 with a building permit issued by the Township. 3.5 Section 3.2 shall continue to be re-inspected, as may be regulated or prescribed under the Act and Clean Water Act. 3.6 Section 3.3 shall apply for each occurrence of notification of items i), ii), iii) or iv) of that section.
4. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE 4.1 Every sewage system shall be operated and maintained so that, i) the sewage system or any part of it shall not emit, discharge or deposit sanitary sewage or effluent onto the surface of the ground, ii) sanitary sewage or effluent shall not emit, discharge, seep, leak or otherwise escape from the sewage system or any part of it, other than from a place or part of a sewage system where the system is designed or intended to discharge the sanitary sewage or effluent, and iii) except as otherwise permitted by other regulations, a sanitary sewage or effluent shall not emit, discharge, seep, leak or otherwise escape from the sewage system or any part of it into a piped water supply, well water supply, a watercourse, ground water or surface water. iv) clause (iii) does not apply to the use of a sewage system designed and operated such that properly treated effluent is discharged into soil. 4.2 No sewage system utilizing a treatment unit, other than a septic tank, shall be operated unless it is operated in accordance with manufacturer s requirements. 5. FEES 5.1 Fees for the maintenance inspection described in Section 3.0 shall be in accordance with Schedule E of this by-law with the exception: i) fees are waived for those properties utilizing a treatment unit in section 3.1 provided the owner is able to satisfy to the Chief Building Official of current manufacture required maintenance and operation prior to field assessment or ii) fees are waived for those properties utilizing a Class 1- Sewage System in section 3.1 provided the owner is able to satisfy to the Chief Building Official of satisfactory operation of the system without any adverse environmental effects. 5.2 Fees for maintenance inspections shall become payable by each affected property owner when applicable. 5.3 Fees for maintenance inspections shall become payable upon completion of the initial field inspection. 5.4 Where a certificate as noted in Section 7 is utilized, the owner will be responsible for such administration fees as listed in Schedule E.
5.5 If a fee associated from item 5.1 is not paid in full by the end of the calendar year of the field assessment, such fees may be added to tax bill in the next calendar year and be treated in the same manner as property taxes. 5.6 Fees collected under section 5.5 are subject to additional collection fees as noted in Schedule E to account for additional administration costs associated with its collection. 5.7 In the event of a discrepancy between Schedule E and applicable Township Building By-law, the higher fee shall take precedence. 6. SCOPE OF INSPECTIONS 6.1 Scope of inspection and assessment shall be in accordance with Schedule C unless as otherwise required by other regulations and may be amended to conditions and observations, as necessary. 7. CERTIFICATE AS ALTERNATIVE TO MAINTENANCE INSPECTION BY THE TOWNSHIP 7.1 The Township may accept third party certification as an alternative to conducting an inspection provided the requesting owner notifies the Township in advance and in writing that they have retained a third party for this purpose within specified times, and 7.2 A third party certification may be accepted provided such certification is presented on prescriptive forms in accordance with the Act. 7.3 Individual undertaking third party certification shall be qualified for such assessment and shall not have any conflicts of interest as identified under the Act. 7.4 Notwithstanding the utilization of a third party certificate, a field inspection may be conducted by the township to confirm the satisfactory review of the field evaluation by the third party individual. Should an issue be discovered during the review by the township, any fees incurred by the township for the field review will be the responsibility of the owner and shall be billed in accordance with Schedule E and Section 5. 8. FORMS
8.1 The Chief Building Official is delegated the authority to create and/or adopt for usage, forms (other than those prescribed by the Act or Code) which provide for the collection of specific information in relation to that taken from the permit application where that information is necessary for the administration and enforcement of the Act and the Code. 9. POWER OF ENTRY 9.1 In accordance with section 15.10.1.(1) of the Act, an officer may enter upon land and into buildings for the purpose of conducting a maintenance inspection however this bylaw does not provide any additional provisions for entry by the officer where not permitted by the Act. 9.2 In accordance with section 436(1) of the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001 an officer may enter upon land at any reasonable time for the purpose of carrying out an inspection to determine whether or not the provisions of this By-law are being complied with. 10. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTY PROVISIONS 10.1 Council shall appoint a Chief Building Official, Building Inspectors and Bylaw Enforcement Officers as are necessary for purpose of carrying out of this By-law. 10.2 This By-law is to be read in conjunction with all the Statues referred to in the preamble hereto and in the event that there is a conflict between the provision of this By-law and the provisions of the Act as amended, or its regulations, then the provisions of the latter will prevail. 10.3 No person shall hinder or obstruct the Chief Building Official, Building Inspector and By-law Enforcement Officers in the enforcement of this Bylaw 10.4 Every person who contravenes any provision of this By-law is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine as provided for in the Provincial Offences Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. p. 33 or as may be amended. 11. BY-LAW TO BE REPEALED 11.1 All by-laws or part thereof and resolutions passed prior to this by-law which contradict this by-law, have no force for this by-law s purposes, and are hereby rescinded. 12. ULTRA VIRES 12.1 Should any sections of this by-law, including any section or part of any schedules attached hereto, be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction
to be ultra vires, the remaining sections shall be nevertheless remain valid and binding. 13. CODE OF CONDUCT 13.1 All Building Service Department staff shall adhere to the Code of Conduct that has been adopted by the Township. 14 CONFLICTING LEGISLATION 14.1 If there is a conflict between a provision in the Building Code Act and a provision of any other Act, the section that is more restrictive shall prevail. 14.2 Whenever any reference is made in this By-Law to a statue of the Legislature of the Province of Ontario, such reference shall be deemed to include all subsequent amendments to such statue and all subsequent amendments to such stature and all successor legislative to such statue. 15 SHORT FORM WORDING 15.1 RESERVED 16 IMPLEMENTATION 16.1 This By-law shall come into full force and effect after adoption. READ A FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD TIME AND FINALLY PASSED THIS 20 TH DAY OF JULY, 2015. Bill French, Mayor John Daly, Clerk
Schedule A Orr Lake Discretionary Maintenance Program
Schedule B Any properties with a septic system that intersect with a vulnerability score of 10 (displayed in red) is subject to mandatory re-inspection under the building code. ANTEN MILLS ELMVALE
HILLSDALE MIDHURST (DEL TREND) PADDY DUNN CIRCLE
MIDHURST (WELLS 2 AND 4) GREEN PINE AVENUE/IDLEWOOD DRIVE MINESING
PHELPSTON SNOW VALLEY (1 OF 2)
SNOW VALLEY (2 OF2) VESPRA DOWNS
Schedule C Scope of Inspections Phase 1 A phase 1 inspection is a non-intrusive process that aims to establish compliance with the Building Code (Section 8.9 of Division B as amended) or with the standards enforced under a discretionary program. A follow-up Phase 2 inspection may be required where the Phase 1 inspection indicated a possible defect or failure of the system. Goal of Phase 1 Inspection: Identify any existing defects in the system, and attempt to identify potential risks that may cause future malfunctions based on the visual inspection. Phase 1 Inspections typically includes (where possible): o Review of available records of the specific components of the system o Review type of occupancy serving the sewage system to determine the source and type of sanitary sewage produced o Source location and type of water supply servicing the property o Review volume of sewage generated and comparing with records o Determine the use of special devices such as garbage grinders or water softeners o General nature of the system (class, components, type, layout, etc.) o Location of system s components with respect to well, surface water and other environmental features, where possible o Approximate level of ground water (typically by non-destructive measures or estimates based on topography) o The size, material and condition of the septic tank or holding tank o The frequency of tank pump-out and the last time the tank was cleaned o Any indication of sewage system failure, including; evidence of effluent backup signs of hydraulic failure (breakout of sewage, wet conditions in the leaching bed area) condition of surface vegetation odour problems o Documentation of previous effluent sampling test results when required o Documentation of regular maintenance for systems utilizing treatment units operated in accordance with manufactures specifications. o Evidence of potential hazards such as, but not limited to: traffic over septic components construction over septic components potential deep penetrating vegetation in septic components.
erosion in and around septic components discharge of storm or other not designed products diverted over septic components. o Evidence of historical regular servicing maintenance such as septic tank pump out records (Class 4) or current haulage contract for holding tanks (Class 5) and may include completion of a pump out form (See Schedule D ) or similar as approved by the Chief Building Official or Designate. Phase 2 Phase 2 Inspections typically includes (where possible) A Phase 2 inspection may be conducted when an inspector determines that the system is at risk of malfunction, failure or due to lack of maintenance records following the completion of the Phase 1 inspection. A Phase 2 inspection may also be conducted when the inspector identifies a potential malfunction or failure in the system, but cannot readily identify the cause of the failure. Possible list of matters when undertaking the Phase II investigation: o Determine the depth of the sludge layer and the distance from the top of the sludge layer and outlet tee. o The thickness of the scum layers o The distance between the bottom of the scum/grease layer and the bottom of the outlet tee o The distance between the top of the scum layer and the top of the outlet tee; o The physical condition of the inlet and outlet; o The condition of the effluent filter, if utilized; o Conducting a leak diagnostic o Conducting a flow trail o Conducting a dye tracing test or o Conducting a cross section of the leaching bed
Schedule D Pump Out Record (Sample) Other forms may be accepted
SCHEDULE E Septic Re-inspection Program (Inclusive of Administration and Field Inspection (Phase 1 inspection Fee) fee per lot Administration Fee (for application utilizing Section 7) fee per lot Processing Fee (for Payment added to Property taxes) Additional Field Inspection (if required) Additional Administration or Inspection Time Third Party Certification (Section 7) $125.00 $50.00 $ per.25 (1/4) hr administration time as per Building By-law Schedule B As per applicable Building Bylaw Schedule B As per applicable Building Bylaw Schedule B Administration Fee only applies as per Building By-Law Schedule B