Treatment Works Approval & Sewer Connection Application/Fee Guidelines

Any person seeking to construct a direct connection to the BCUA’s sewer system or an indirect connection through a municipal sewer system is required to pay a connection fee to the Bergen County Utilities Authority and to follow the rules and regulations set forth below.

 

When unsure if your project consists of a Direct Connection (BCUA) or Indirect Connection (Municipal), you may contact Dominic DiSalvo from our Engineering Department at 201-807-8664/ddisalvo@bcua.org for assistance.

 

 

 

If you are connecting directly to a BCUA sewer line, a permit and various fees and deposits will be required. A one-year performance bond will be needed to guarantee the integrity of the work and a copy of the contractor’s current liability insurance policy will also be required. All work will need to be performed in strict accordance with BCUA standards and a detail of the work to be performed relative to the BCUA facilities must be submitted and approved prior to the beginning of work. Inspections by BCUA field personnel will need to be made and must occur during normal business hours of 7:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M., Monday through Friday. Additional required inspections for work outside the normal work week will be at the developer’s expense in accordance with the hourly overtime rate of the BCUA inspector.

 

The Direct Connect application and fee schedule is available to download by clicking here.

 

 

 

Projects of at least 8,000 gallons per day discharge to the sanitary sewer system or extensions of the public sanitary sewer system are the two main prerequisites in determining whether a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) mandated Treatment Works Approval permit is required. NJDEP TWA rules and regulations, approval applications and checklists can be found on the NJDEP website by clicking here. The BCUA is required to review and endorse the project prior to submittal of the TWA application to the NJDEP. BCUA endorsement confirms that the committed flow detailed in the TWA does not exceed the presently permitted design capacity of the BCUA wastewater treatment facility. It also provides the BCUA the opportunity to review the plans, determine which of our meters the project will flow through and if the BCUA has any facilities in the general area. If it is a substantial flow, a new metering station may be required.

The applicant will be required to submit a complete package for review which includes:

 

• Original TWA-1 Application Form, with all required signatures.
• Original WQM-006 Engineer’s Report Form, with all required signatures.
• Original WQM-003 Consent Form, with all required signatures.
• One (1) set of Final Plans and Profiles.
• One (1) set of Construction Specifications.

• $100 Application Review Fee, payable to Bergen County Utilities Authority.
• Completed BCUA Sewer Connection Application. (See Section III below for procedure)
• Sewer Connection Fee, payable to Bergen County Utilities Authority.

 

Upon completion of the project, the applicant must submit form WQM-005 to the BCUA. In addition, if a sewer connection fee is required, the applicant must adhere to the sewer connection fee requirements detailed below and submit the proper connection fees prior to the BCUA’s endorsement of the TWA.

 

To check on the status of a TWA submittal, you may contact Peter Nese at 201-807-8654/pnese@bcua.org.

 

 

If a proposed project connects indirectly to the BCUA system and if the project does not meet the requirements of a TWA, you would only be required to pay a connection fee to the BCUA.  The steps to take are as follows:

 

• The applicant must contact the municipal construction code official in the borough/city you are connecting to, in order to start the referral process.
• If the project meets the connection fee payment requirements, the municipal construction code official will submit a Sewer Connection Referral Form to the BCUA.
• Once a Referral Form is received by the BCUA, the BCUA will forward a Sewer Connection Application to the applicant via postal mail or email if an email address is included on the referral form.
• The applicant must then complete the form and send it back to the BCUA along with payment.
• Once the application is received by the BCUA, it will be reviewed, entered into our database and endorsed if all requirements are met.
• The BCUA will then send a letter of approval to the municipality and the applicant.

 

 

 

If you have any questions regarding the sewer connection requirements please contact Nina Soto at 201-807-8677/nsoto@bcua.org or Romi Pelc at 201-807-5865/rpelc@bcua.org.