Commonwealth, Department of Environmental Protection v. Cromwell Township

OPINION

Justice ORIE MELVIN.

This is an appeal by Cromwell Township (“Township”) from a July 8, 2009 Commonwealth Court order implementing a March 9, 2009 order sentencing Cromwell Township supervisors to three to six months imprisonment for contempt.

I

The procedural history of this case is as follows. Section five of the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act,1 35 P.S. § 750.5, requires municipalities to submit an officially-adopted, comprehensive plan for sewage services to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection2 (“DEP”). In general, the plan must describe “existing sewage…