Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (Act 537) — Required Sewage Facilities Plan (PA)
Tracked preemption from the Pennsylvania overlay bundle.
Overview
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Effective
1966-01-24
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:PA
Other Pennsylvania preemptions
Pennsylvania Act 13 — Oil & Gas Operational Preemption (58 Pa.C.S. §3303)Chesapeake Bay Watershed — Riparian Buffer & E&S Control (25 Pa. Code Ch. 102)Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory (PNDI) Environmental ReviewMPC §503(1.1) — Manufactured / Industrialized Housing PreemptionPennsylvania Uniform Construction Code (UCC) — Building Code PreemptionFirearms — Local Regulation Preemption (18 Pa.C.S. §6120)Pennsylvania History Code — State Historic Preservation Review (Pa.C.S. Title 37)Pennsylvania Agricultural Area Security Law — Agricultural Security Areas (Act 43 / Act 38 of 2005)
Trigger predicate
When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.
always true
Preempted fields
2 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.
| Field | Op | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
review_type | require | act_537_official_sewage_facilities_plan_consistency | Every Pennsylvania municipality must adopt and maintain an Official Sewage Facilities Plan ('Act 537 Plan') addressing existing and projected sewage disposal needs. New subdivisions and land developments must be consistent with the Act 537 Plan; revisions ('Plan Revisions for New Land Development', commonly 'planning modules') are required for new on-lot or public-sewer connections. |
review_type | require | dep_sewage_planning_module_approval | PA DEP Bureau of Clean Water reviews Planning Modules under 25 Pa. Code Ch. 71. Approval is a precondition to subdivision/land-development plan recording in most municipalities. |
Citation
Authority source
Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act, Act of Jan. 24, 1966, P.L. 1535, No. 537, 35 P.S. §§750.1–750.20a; implementing regulations at 25 Pa. Code Chapter 71
§ 35 P.S. §§750.5 (municipal planning duty), 750.7 (plan revisions)
Research notes
Act 537 does not directly override base-district fields, but it gates subdivision and building-permit issuance. A municipality that fails to maintain a current Act 537 Plan exposes itself to DEP orders and project-level moratoria. PA DEP guidance: https://www.dep.pa.gov/Business/Water/CleanWater/SewageFacilities/.