N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 10 § 131.50

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 45, November 2, 2024

Section 131.50 - Onondaga County Water Authority

Public Health Law, § 1100

(a)Application.

The rules and regulations set forth in this section, duly made and enacted in accordance with the provisions of sections 1100-1107 of the Public Health Law shall apply to Otisco Lake and its tributaries which now serve or which may be developed in the future to serve as sources of public water supply of the Onondaga County Water Authority, Onondaga County, New York, and to all watercourses tributary thereto or ultimately discharging into said lake.

(b) Definitions.

(1)Chloride salt shall mean the solid compounds or the solutions of potassium chloride (commonly used as fertilizer), calcium chloride (commonly used for winter road maintenance) or sodium chloride (commonly used for water softener regeneration).

(2)Herbicide shall mean any substance used to destroy or inhibit plant growth.

(3)Human excreta shall mean human feces and urine.

(4)Junkyard shall mean an area where two or more unregistered, old or secondhand motor vehicles are being accumulated for purposes of disposal, resale of used parts or reclaiming certain materials such as metal, glass, fabric, etc., unless a permit has been obtained to sell used cars.

(5)Lake shall mean Otisco Lake.

(6)Linear distance shall mean the shortest horizontal distance from the nearest point of a structure or object to the high water mark of the lake or to the edge, margin or precipitous bank forming the ordinary high water mark of a watercourse.

(7)Pesticide shall mean any substance used to destroy or inhibit pests such as rodents and insects.

(8)Radioactive material shall mean any material in any form that emits radiation spontaneously.

(9)Refuse shall mean all putrescible and nonputrescible solid wastes including garbage, rubbish, ashes, incinerator residue, street cleanings, dead animals, offal and solid commercial and industrial wastes.

(10)Refuse disposal area shall mean land used for the depositing of refuse except that it shall not include the land used for the depositing of refuse from a single family, a member of which is the owner, occupant or lessee of said land, or any part of a farm on which only animal wastes resulting from the operation of such farm are deposited.

(11)Sewage shall mean the waste from a flush toilet, bath, sink, lavatory, dishwashing or laundry machine, or the water-carried waste from any other fixture or equipment or machine.

(12)Sewage disposal system shall mean a system for disposing of sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes, and including sewers and treatment works.

(13)Toxic chemical shall mean any compound or substance which is or may be poisonous to humans.

(14)Treatment works shall mean any plant, subsurface disposal field, lagoon, pumping station, constructed drainage ditch or surface water intercepting ditch, incinerator, area devoted to sanitary land fills, or other works not specifically mentioned herein, installed for the purpose of treating, neutralizing, stabilizing or disposing of sewage, industrial waste or other wastes.

(15)Watercourse shall mean every spring, stream, marsh, or channel of any kind, the waters of which flow or may flow into the Onondaga County Water Authority water supply.

(16)Watershed shall mean the entire drainage area contributing water to Otisco Lake.

(17)Water supply shall mean the public water supply of the Onondaga County Water Authority, Onondaga County, New York from Otisco Lake.

(c)General prohibitions.

No person, including State agencies or political subdivisions having jurisdiction, shall perform any act or grant any permit or approval which may result in the contravention of the standards for raw water quality as contained in Part 170 of Title 10 (Health) of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York (10 NYCRR Part 170).

(d) Specific prohibitions.

(1) Cemeteries.

No interment of a human body shall be made within 250 feet of the lake or watercourse.

(2) Chloride salt.

No chloride salt shall be stored within a 500 foot linear distance of the lake or watercourse except in weather-proof buildings or watertight vessels.

(3) Herbicides, pesticides and toxic chemical.

No herbicides, pesticides or toxic chemical shall be discharged, applied or allowed to enter into the lake, its tributaries or any watercourse unless a permit to do so has been obtained from the appropriate State agency having jurisdiction.

(4) Human excreta and sewage.

(i) No human excreta shall be deposited or allowed to escape into the lake or any watercourse on the watershed.

(ii) No human excreta shall be deposited or spread upon the surface of the ground at any point on the watershed.

(iii) No human excreta shall be buried in the soil on the watershed unless deposited in trenches or pits at a distance of not less than 250 feet from any reservoir or watercourse and covered with not less than one foot of soil in such a manner as to effectually prevent its being washed into any reservoir or watercourse by rain or melting snow.

(iv) No privy, cesspool or receptacle of any kind for the deposit or storage of human excreta shall be constructed, placed, maintained or allowed to remain within 50 feet of the high water mark of Otisco Lake, its tributaries or any watercourses. Existing privies used for the deposit or storage of human excreta shall be replaced by other methods for the disposal of said excreta acceptable to the Commissioner of Health within three years after the date of adoption of this section. Properly designed holding tanks to receive the human excreta, wash water, and sink wastes from the sanitary and plumbing facilities within a building will be acceptable (under permit from local health departments) where feasible, provided safeguards are built into the system to eliminate overflowing of the holding tank.

(v) No portion of the seepage unit (tile field, seepage pit or equivalent) of a subsurface sewage disposal system shall be constructed, placed, or rebuilt within 50 feet of the lake or watercourse. These restrictions shall not apply to existing subsurface sewage disposal works installed in accordance with plans submitted to and approved by the appropriate State agency or officer or other official health agency or officer having jurisdiction. All unexercised construction permits over three years old shall be invalidated.

(vi) Every watertight holding tank referred to in subparagraphs (iv) and (ix) of this paragraph shall be emptied when filled within six inches of the top of the holding tank.

(vii) In emptying either a septic tank or holding tank, and transferring its contents to a transportable receptacle, such as a tank truck, all necessary care shall be exercised to prevent contamination of the lake or watercourse. All such transportable receptacles shall be provided with drip-proof connections and tight fitting covers which are securely fastened when transporting wastes to the place of ultimate disposal. The contents of the tank trucks shall be disposed of in accordance with subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph or at a properly designed, constructed and operated sewage disposal system that has been approved by the appropriate State agency having jurisdiction.

(viii)Subsurface disposal.

(a) Before any existing sewage disposal system is altered or any new sewage disposal system is constructed on the watershed, the plans in relation thereto shall have been first approved by the appropriate State agency having jurisdiction over such facility. Standards for waste treatment works as published from time to time by the appropriate State agency having jurisdiction over such facility and subparagraph (v) of this paragraph shall comprise the criteria to approve any proposed sewage disposal system. Where rapid percolation is indicated, such as in rock fissures, the site may be rejected.

(b) When an existing subsurface sewage disposal system fails, the entire system must be inspected and the site thoroughly evaluated in a manner acceptable to the Commissioner of Health, prior to designing alterations, or modifications, to the existing system.

(c) The maximum interval for inspection of sewage disposal facilities serving year- round residences shall not exceed three years. All new or replacement septic tanks should have a fresh air inlet pipe visible above ground to readily make their location known to the watershed inspector.

(ix) No sewage or polluted liquid of any kind shall be discharged or allowed to flow into the lake or watercourses, nor on, or beneath the surface of the ground on the watershed (except into watertight pipes connected to a sewage disposal system or holding tank approved by the appropriate State agency, in accordance with subparagraph [v] of this paragraph).

(5) Manure.

No manure pile shall be maintained or allowed to remain within 50 feet of the lake, its tributaries or watercourses.

(6) Radioactive material.

No radioactive material in excess of the quantity listed for said material in Table 4, Appendix 1, infra Part 16, Title 10 (Health) of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York (10 NYCRR Part 16) shall be disposed of by burial in soil within 250 feet of the lake, its tributaries or watercourses.

(7) Recreation.

(i)Bathing, swimming and fishing. Bathing, swimming and fishing are prohibited within 500 feet of any water supply intake owned by the Onondaga County Water Authority.

(ii)Boating. No boating shall be allowed in or upon the waters of Otisco Lake within 500 feet of the water supply intake owned by the Onondaga County Water Authority except by duly authorized employees of the Onondaga County Water Authority in the performance of their duties of supervision and maintenance of the water supply.

(8) Solid waste.

(i)Junkyards. No junkyards shall be located within 100 feet of the lake, its tributaries or watercourses.

(ii)Refuse. No refuse shall be deposited on or beneath the surface of the ground within a 250 foot linear distance of the lake or watercourse.

(iii)Refuse disposal area. No refuse disposal area shall be located within 250 feet of the lake, its tributaries or watercourses. No refuse disposal operation will be permitted unless approved by the appropriate State agency having jurisdiction.

(9) Miscellaneous.

(i)Structures. No hut, tent, shelter or building of any kind, except a water works structure, shall be permitted on the water or ice within 500 feet of any water supply intake owned by the Onondaga County Water Authority.

(e)Inspections.

The Onondaga County Water Authority, shall make regular and thorough inspections of the lake, watercourses and watershed to ascertain whether this section is being complied with. It shall be the duty of the aforesaid Onondaga County Water Authority to cause copies of any rules and regulations violated to be served upon the persons violating the same together with notices of such violations. If such persons served do not immediately comply with this section, it shall be the further duty of the aforesaid Onondaga County Water Authority to promptly notify the State Commissioner of Health of such violations. The aforesaid Onondaga County Water Authority shall report to the State Commissioner of Health in writing annually, prior to the 30th day of January, the results of the regular inspections made during the preceding year. This inspection report shall state the number of violations found, the number of violations abated and the condition of the watershed which shall include:

(1) An annually updated land use inventory of all structures, facilities, sewage and waste disposal systems, and other solid and liquid waste disposal practices.

(2) Census of residents, both full and part-time, and domestic animals.

(3) Survey and inventory of users of pesticides, fertilizers, road salts and any other potential polluting material.

(4) Survey of water use, including public water supply, private water supply, bathing and swimming (private or public), water skiing, and power boat use, fishing, agricultural water supply and any other reasonable water use.

(5) Surveillance program which can measure and quantify the physical, bacteriological, microscopic, biological, chemical and radiological quality of the lake and its tributary streams.

(f)Penalties for violations.

Penalties for violations shall be in accordance with section 1103 of the Public Health Law.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 10 § 131.50