Pennsylvania Act 1937-310 — PENNSYLVANIA COORDINATE SYSTEM, ADOPTION

Act text

PENNSYLVANIA COORDINATE SYSTEM, ADOPTION
                 Act of Jun. 2, 1937, P.L. 1208, No. 310              Cl. 68
                                  AN ACT

     To describe, define, and officially adopt a system of
        coordinates for designating the positions of points on the
        surface of the earth within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

        Section 1.  Be it enacted, &c., That the system of plane
     rectangular coordinates which has been established and adopted
     by the National Ocean Service/National Geodetic Survey (formerly
     the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey) or its successors
     for defining and stating the positions or locations of points on
     the surface of the earth within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     is hereafter known and designated as the "Pennsylvania
     Coordinate System."
        For the purpose of the use of this system, the Commonwealth
     is divided into two zones: the "North Zone," and the "South
     Zone."
        The area now included in the following counties shall
     constitute the North Zone:
        Bradford, Cameron, Carbon, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield,
     Clinton, Columbia, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson,
     Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Monroe, Montour,
     Northumberland, Pike, Potter, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga,
     Union, Venango, Warren, Wayne, and Wyoming.
        The area now included in the following counties shall
     constitute the South Zone:
        Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Berks, Blair,
     Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware,
     Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Juniata,
     Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Mifflin, Montgomery,
     Northampton, Perry, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, Snyder, Somerset,
     Washington, Westmoreland, and York.
        (1 amended Dec. 16, 1992, P.L.1224, No.161)
        Section 2.  As established for use, the Pennsylvania
     Coordinate System shall be named, and in any land description,
     map, report of survey or other document in which it is used it
     shall be designated, the "Pennsylvania Coordinate System North
     Zone," or "Pennsylvania Coordinate System South Zone," as the
     case may be. Also included with the designation "Pennsylvania
     Coordinate System" shall be a notation indicating whether the
     1927 datum or the 1983 datum was used.
        (2 amended Dec. 16, 1992, P.L.1224, No.161)
        Section 3.  The plane rectangular coordinates of a point on
     the earth's surface, to be used in expressing the position of a
     point in the appropriate zone of this system, shall consist of
     two distances, expressed in feet and decimals of a foot when
     using the Pennsylvania Coordinate System of 1927 and expressed
     in meters and decimals of a meter when using the Pennsylvania
     Coordinate System of 1983. For State Plan Coordinate System
     (SPCS) 27, one of these distances, to be known as the "x
     coordinate," shall give the position in an east-and-west
     direction, the other, to be known as the "y coordinate," shall
     give the position in a north-and-south direction. For State Plan
     Coordinate System (SPCS) 83, one of the distances, to be known
     as the "northing" or "N", shall give the position in a north-
     and-south direction; the other, to be known as the "easting" or
     "E", shall give the position in an east-and-west direction.
     These coordinates shall be made to depend upon and conform to
     the plane rectangular coordinates of the triangulation and
     traverse stations of the National Ocean Survey/National Geodetic
     Survey (formerly the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey)
     within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as those coordinates
     have been determined by said survey.
        (3 amended Dec. 16, 1992, P.L.1224, No.161)
        Section 4.  When any tract of land to be defined by a single
     description extends from one into the other of the above
     coordinate zones, the positions of all points on its boundaries
     may be referred to either of said zones, the zone which is used
     being specifically named in the description.
        Section 5.  For purposes of more precisely defining the
     Pennsylvania Coordinate System, the following definition by the
     National Ocean Survey/National Geodetic Survey (formerly the
     United States Coast and Geodetic Survey) is adopted:
        The Pennsylvania Coordinate System of 1927, North Zone,
     consists of a Lambert conformal projection of the Clarke
     spheroid of 1866, having a central meridian 77 degrees 45
     minutes west of Greenwich. The intersecting cone of this
     projection cuts the surface of the spheroid in parallels of
     latitude 40 degrees 53 minutes and 41 degrees 57 minutes north
     of the equator, along which parallels the scale shall be exact.
     The origin of coordinates for this zone is at the intersection
     of the meridian 77 degrees 45 minutes west longitude and the
     parallel 40 degrees 10 minutes north latitude. This origin is
     given the coordinates x==2,000,000 feet; y==0 feet.
        The Pennsylvania Coordinate System of 1927, South Zone,
     consists of a Lambert conformal projection of the Clarke
     spheroid of 1866, having a central meridian 77 degrees 45
     minutes west of Greenwich. The intersecting cone of this
     projection cuts the surface of the spheroid in parallels of
     latitude 39 degrees 56 minutes and 40 degrees 58 minutes north
     of the equator, along which parallels the scale shall be exact.
     The origin of coordinates for this zone is at the intersection
     of the meridian 77 degrees 45 minutes west longitude and the
     parallel 39 degrees 20 minutes north latitude. This origin is
     given the coordinates x==2,000,000 feet; y==0 feet.
        The Pennsylvania Coordinate System of 1983, North Zone,
     consists of a Lambert conformal projection of the North American
     datum of 1983, having a central meridian of 77 degrees 45
     minutes west. The northern standard parallel is latitude 41
     degrees 57 minutes and the southern standard parallel is
     latitude 40 degrees 53 minutes, along which parallels the scale
     shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection
     of the meridian 77 degrees 45 minutes west longitude and the
     parallel 40 degrees 10 minutes north latitude. This origin is
     given the coordinates n==0 meters; e==600,000 meters.
        The Pennsylvania Coordinate System of 1983, South Zone,
     consists of a Lambert conformal projection of the North American
     datum of 1983, having a central meridian of 77 degrees 45
     minutes west. The northern standard parallel is latitude 40
     degrees 58 minutes and the southern standard parallel is
     latitude 39 degrees 56 minutes, along which parallels the scale
     shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection
     of the meridian 77 degrees 45 minutes west longitude and the
     parallel 39 degrees 20 minutes north latitude. The origin is
     given the coordinates n==0 meters; e== 600,000 meters.
        Standard conversions of coordinates from meters to feet will
     be computed using the United States survey foot with a
     definition of 1200/3937 m==United States survey foot.
        The position of the Pennsylvania Coordinate System shall be
     as marked on the ground by fundamental triangulation or traverse
     stations established by the National Geodetic Survey, formerly
     the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey for first-order and
     second-order work, whose geodetic positions have been rigidly
     adjusted on the North American datum of 1927, and redefined on
     the North American datum of 1983 and whose plane coordinates
     have been computed on the system here defined. Such stations,
     established by the National Geodetic Survey, formerly the United
     States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and any other triangulation
     and traverse stations which have been established in accordance
     with the standards of accuracy and specifications by the Federal
     Geodetic Control Committee of the United States Department of
     Commerce or in accordance with the requirements of the State
     department authorized to administer this act, may be used for
     establishing a survey connection with the Pennsylvania
     Coordinate System.
        (5 amended Dec. 16, 1992, P.L.1224, No.161)
        Section 6.  No coordinates based on the Pennsylvania
     Coordinate System, purporting to define the position of a point
     on a land boundary, shall be presented to be recorded in public
     land records or deed records unless the licensed land surveyor
     in charge attaches a certificate regarding the beginning
     coordinate source and adheres to third-order geodetic surveying
     procedures or better in effect at the time of the survey as
     outlined by the Federal Geodetic Control Committee.
        (6 amended Dec. 16, 1992, P.L.1224, No.161)
        Section 7. (7 deleted by amendment Dec. 16, 1992,
     P.L.1224, No.161)
        Section 7.1.  The Pennsylvania Coordinate System of 1927
     shall not be used after December 31, 1995. The Pennsylvania
     Coordinate System of 1983 shall be the sole system after this
     date.
        (7.1 added Dec. 16, 1992, P.L.1224, No.161)
        Section 8.  Nothing contained in this act shall be
     interpreted as requiring any purchaser or mortgagee to rely
     wholly on a description based on the Pennsylvania Coordinate
     System.
        Section 9.  This act is to take effect immediately upon its
     final enactment.