OCEAN GROVE SEWERAGE AUTHORITY
RULES AND REGULATIONS
Adopted September 5, 2000
Amended December 27, 2001
Amended July 2, 2002
Amended September 11, 2003
Amended May 4, 2004
Amended September 7, 2004
Amended December 7, 2004
Amended September 6, 2005
Amended December 12, 2006
Amended December 11, 2007
Amended January 13, 2009
Amended November 10, 2009
Amended December 8, 2009
Amended December 14, 2010
Amended December 13, 2011
Amended December 11, 2012
Amended December 10, 2013
Amended December 9, 2014
Amended December 8, 2015
Amended December 13, 2016
Amended December 12, 2017
OCEAN GROVE SEWERAGE AUTHORITY
RULES AND REGULATIONS
I.DEFINITIONS
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of the terms used in these Rules and Regulations shall be as follows:
“Agent” shall mean a person who has the authority to act on behalf of a “customer” or applicant of the “Authority”. An authorized agent shall have written authorization from the “customer” or applicant to act in his behalf and shall be responsible as if he were the “customer” or the applicant. Actions of the agent shall be binding on the “customer” or applicant.
“Authority” shall mean the Ocean Grove Sewerage Authority.
“Building Drain” shall mean that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the “building sewer”, beginning five feet outside the interface of the building wall.
“Building Sewer” shall mean the “sanitary sewer” running from the “building drain” to the “cleanout” or the “sewer” “main” whichever comes first, also called house connection.
“Cleanout” shall mean capped riser pipe allowing access for cleaning of sanitary “sewer lateral”. Cleanouts shall be located behind roadway edge of pavement or curbing within public right-of-way.
“Combined Sewer” shall mean a “sewer” in which both service runoff and “sewerage” are received.
“Custodian of Sewerage Authority Records” shall mean the Executive Director who is officially designated by the “Authority” as the official in charge of all “Authority” records and responsible to respond to any appropriate request for public records of the “Authority” pursuant to New Jersey’s Open Public Records Law.
“Customer” or “Owner” shall mean any “person”, corporation or organization contracting for sewer connection or for use, products or services or who use said services or who is the “owner” or occupant or both of any real property which directly or indirectly has been connected to the sewer system or to which directly or indirectly has been furnished or supplied the use, products or services of the sewer system or sewer services facilities or products.
“DEP” shall mean the Department Of Environmental Protection of the State of New Jersey.
“Engineer” shall mean the duly appointed Consulting Engineer employed by the “Authority”.
“Established Lot” shall mean a subdivided parcel of land, which is shown and numbered as a separate lot on the official tax map of the Township and for which a sewer assessment was originally established and paid.
“Garbage” shall mean the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and serving of foods, as well as the storage and sale of produce.
“Industrial Waste” shall mean the “waste water” from industrial processes, trade or business as distinct from domestic or sanitary waste.
“Infiltration” shall mean the water entering the sewer system from the ground, through such means as, but not limited to, defective pipes, pipe joints, connections or manhole walls.
“Inflow” shall mean the water discharged into the sewer system from such source as, but not limited to, roof leaders, cellar, yard and area drains, foundation drains, cooling water discharges, surface drains, manhole covers, storm sewers or catch basins.
“Main” shall mean the “Authority’s” – owned piping and appurtenances, in or along public highways and streets, or along privately owned rights of way use for the transmission or for the collection of domestic sewerage or “industrial waste” from its “customers”.
“Natural Outlet” shall mean any outlet, including storm sewers and “combined sewer” outflows, into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.
“New Service” shall be defined as any sewer connection, which has not previously been made.
“New Sewer Unit” shall mean any unit, residential or commercial, being established as the result of construction upon any parcel not previously assessed for sewer construction within the municipal “sewer collection system”, or “sewer units” created on any parcel as the result of the major or minor subdivision, variance or site plan approval which expanded the permitted use as established at the time of the original sewer construction assessment.
Other Than Residential User” shall mean all users and connections other than defined as “residential user”, including but not limited to, business, commercial, industrial, restaurants, taverns, theaters, camps, churches, schools, hospitals, boarding homes, nursing homes, etc.
“Person” shall mean any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
“Private Sewerage Disposal System” shall mean as herein referred to, any septic tanks, cesspools, sewerage disposal devices or subsurface disposal system.
“Regional Sewerage Authority” shall mean the Township of Neptune Sewerage Authority or its successor.
“Renewal of Service” shall mean an application for a renewal of existing sewer service to an existing structure or a replacement structure in the case of a complete destruction of the prior structure or a change in ownership or use. A change in use shall include a change in the character of usage or a change in the size of the facility or extent of the usage. An application shall not be considered for renewal of service if “main” extension approval is required by “DEP”.
“Residential User” shall mean a single family, multifamily, apartment, trailer, mobile home, hotel or motel, rooming or boarding house, cottage, tourist cabin, camp meeting tent that is designed and used exclusively for providing living accommodations.
“Sanitary Sewage” shall mean the normal water – carried waste from business buildings, institutions, commercial and industrial establishments.
“Sanitary Sewer” also know as “Public Sewer” shall mean a “sewer” that carries liquid and water carried waste from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions together with minor quantities of ground, storm and surface waters that are not admitted intentionally.
“Service Charge” shall mean the annual charge under the schedule of sewer rates adopted by the “Authority” or the latest revision thereof for direct or indirect connection with and use of the sewerage system of the “Authority”.
Sewage Works” shall mean all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of “sewage”.
“Sewer” shall mean a pipe or conduit for carrying sewerage.
“Sewerage Treatment Plant” shall mean any arrangement of devises and structures used for treating “sewerage”.
“Sewer Connection Fee/New Service Charge” shall mean that initial payment be paid to the “Authority” during a new connection to the sewer collection system.
“Sewer Connection System” shall relate to the entire “Authority” collection system including all pipes, connections, rights of way, pumping facilities and maintenance equipment necessary to convey neighborhood sewerage to the facility of the Township of Neptune Sewerage Authority for treatment.
“Sewer Lateral shall mean the sanitary “sewer” running from the “cleanout” at the curb line to the “main” if the “sewer” is installed within the street cart way. If the sanitary sewer “main” is installed in the sidewalk area or within the easement area, there is no “sewer lateral” as defined herein with the exception of the saddle or fitting at the connection point to the “main”.
“Sewer Unit” shall mean and be defined as follows:
A.Residential
1.Residential dwelling with kitchen facilities shall include:
a.Single family dwelling;
b.Multiple family dwelling (each separate residence);
c.Mobile home (does not include transient or camp grounds);
d.Cottage;
e.Tourist cabin;
f.Camp meeting tent.
2. Residential dwelling without kitchen facilities shall include:
a.Hotel;
b.Motel;
c.Boarding house.
3. Churches, fraternal organizations, service organizations, public buildings and schools. A unit is defined as consuming seventy-five thousand gallons of water per year. Consumption of more than seventy-five thousand gallons of water per year shall constitute an additional unit(s). Each separate establishment shall in the minimum, equal one unit.
B.Commercial/Industrial
1.A unit is defined as consuming seventy-five thousand gallons of water per year. Consumption of more than seventy-five thousand gallons of water per year shall constitute an additional unit(s). Each separate establishment shall, in the minimum, equal one unit.
“Sewer One-Half Unit” shall mean a residential dwelling without kitchen facilities.
“Slug” shall mean any discharge of water, sewerage or “industrial waste” which in concentrations of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds for any period of duration longer than fifteen minutes more than five times the average twenty-four hour concentration during normal operation.
Storm Drain (sometimes termed storm sewer) shall mean a drain or sewer for conveying water, ground water, subsurface water or unpolluted water from any source.
“Suspended Solids” shall mean solids that either flow on the surface of or are in suspension in water, sewerage or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtration.
“Tap Fee/Reconnection Fee” (also known as “sewer connection fee”) represents an initial payment to be paid to the “Authority” during a new connection to the sewer collection system or reconnection to an existing connection that had received no charges for sewer services on the property for twenty-four months or more. A tap fee shall be charged where there is a conversion of any multiple family dwellings to any form of individual dwelling units such as condominiums, townhouses, cooperatives or the like, where no prior tap fee has been charged for the individual units.
“Toxic Substance: shall mean any poisonous substance.
“Waste Water” shall mean the spent water of a community from the standpoint of sewers; it may be a combination of the liquid and the water-carried waste from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, together with any ground water that may be present.
II.HISTORY AND CREATION
The Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, November 27, 1972, in the matter of State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection v. Township of Neptune, under Docket No. C-133-72, ordered the Township of Neptune to regionalize its sewerage system for the benefit of those municipalities located in the Neptune Drainage Basin.
In accordance with said order, the Township of Neptune on December 12, 1972, did enact Ordinance No. 873 creating the Township Of Neptune Sewerage Authority pursuant to R. S. 40:14A-1 et seq.
On April 11, 1973, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association entered into a service agreement with said Authority and the surrounding municipalities of Neptune, Neptune City, Bradley Beach and Avon wherein the Neptune Township Sewerage Authority was to provide secondary sewerage treatment for the sewerage of the several municipalities and in consideration thereof, the several municipalities and Ocean Grove were to pay the Neptune Township Sewerage Authority their share of the capital improvement and their share of the operation and maintenance of the Neptune Township Sewerage Authority.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association in conjunction with the Authority and the several municipalities aforesaid, agreed to abide by the regulations of the Federal EPA and the New Jersey “DEP” in consideration of grant monies to upgrade its internal collection system.
The Superior Court, Chancery Division, by order entered on June 24, 1983, in the case of Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association v. Township of Neptune, et al., Docket No. C-508279, determined that the Township succeeded to the municipal functions formerly performed by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association and as such the operation and the maintenance of the sewerage system in Ocean Grove was now the obligation of the Township of Neptune and the Ocean Grove “Sewer District” was created by municipal Ordinance.
It was determined by the Township of Neptune that the operation and maintenance of the Ocean Grove Sewerage Authority could be preserved and adequate revenues more readily assured by the establishment of a separate sewerage authority within the Township. The Ocean Grove Sewerage Authority was thereafter created by Ordinance No. 1219 preamble; Ordinance No. 1670 preamble in September, 1994.
III.PURPOSE
The “Authority” is a member of the Township Of Neptune Sewerage Authority and as a member thereof is subject to the rules and regulations of said Sewerage Authority. The “Authority” is also subject to the terms and conditions of the service agreement with the Township of Neptune Sewerage Authority dated April 11, 1973, the amendments thereto dated February 18, 1975, the agreement with the Township Of Neptune Sewerage Authority dated March 8, 1976 to abide by the conditions of the grant agreement with the Federal EPA and the New Jersey “DEP”; the agreement between the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association and the Township of Neptune dated March 27, 1980 and the agreement between the Ocean Grove Sewer District and the Township of Neptune dated March 7, 1994 relative to the cause of operation, maintenance and capital expenditures for the Pennsylvania Avenue Pumping Station as well as all other agreements together with amendments and supplements thereto.
It is necessary for the “Authority” to regulate the use of its sewer system for “residential”, commercial and industrial users in order to insure compliance with the rules and regulations of the “Authority”, the Township of Neptune Sewerage Authority and the statutes, rules and regulations and agreements of the federal government, the State of New Jersey, the Neptune Township Sewerage Authority and Neptune Township. Due to the agreements with the Township of Neptune and the Township Of Neptune Sewerage Authority copies of the rules and regulations of the Township Of Neptune Sewerage Authority and the Township of Neptune are on file with the Executive Director of the “Authority”.
A.General Application of Rules and Regulations
The Rules and Regulations established by the “Authority” for use of its facilities and services is hereby enacted and established by the “Authority”. Rules and Regulations of the Neptune Township Sewerage Authority and NeptuneTownship are incorporated herein and made a part hereof without the inclusion of text thereof herein. Copies of Rules and Regulations of Neptune Township and the Neptune Township Sewerage Authority shall be available from the Executive Director of the “Authority” and also available in the office of the Municipal Clerk of Neptune Township and the office of the Neptune Township Sewerage Authority.
General application of these rules and regulations are as follows:
1.Anyone wishing to obtain sewer service from the “Authority” will be required to make application for said service to the “Authority”. Application will be made on the standard application form of the “Authority”, copies of which are available from the Executive Director. Upon approval of the application by the “Authority”, a connection permit will be issued. Any and all fees required of the application must be paid before the permit is issued.
2.No application for a sewer use permit will be accepted by the “Authority” until the applicant has paid, or made satisfactory arrangements to pay all arrears and charges due by the applicant at any premises now or thereafter occupied by him.
a.If there is a change in ownership and the fees are due and owing to the “Authority”, the PURCHASER/NEW “OWNER” will be required to pay all arrears prior to the “Authority” granting approval for the new applicant to connect to the system or use an existing service.
3.The accepted application shall constitute a contract between the “Authority” and the applicant obliging the applicant to pay to the “Authority” its rates as established from time to time and to comply with the rules and regulations.
4.Included with the application will be a plot plan and/or survey showing the outline of the existing or new structures as well as the “building sewers”.
5.All completed applications for sewer use permits shall be approved on a first come, first served basis. Applications shall be deemed complete when all forms, surveys, plans and fees have been submitted to the “Authority” and the application is deemed completed. The obligation of the “Authority” to approve completed applications for sewer permits is contingent upon the availability of capacity both at the Neptune Township Sewerage Authority plants and mains.
6.The “Authority” shall not approve sewer use permit applications until such time as the “Authority” is in receipt of all necessary approvals from the “DEP” or any other municipal, state or federal agency, which may be required.
7.The sewer permit or approval which is issued for any residential unit shall be valid for a period of six months from the date of issue and a sewer use permit or approval issued for any industrial or commercial unit shall be valid for a period of six months from the date of issue, unless physical connection is made within the appropriate period. Physical connection is defined to be made when the sewer facility within the building for which the service is requested are capable of being used.