New Brunswick, NJ Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Erosion control on construction sites in the City of New Brunswick runs through the steep slope regulations of Section 17.07.100 of the Municipal Code. The purpose paragraph ties construction on steep slopes to accelerated runoff, loss of topsoil, silting in of streams, flood damage and erosion. Applicability is set in subsection C: the regulations apply to all applications for major subdivision, site plan or land disturbance or use variance approval, and to any site disturbance, development or redevelopment of five thousand square feet or more of gross disturbance, or one for which the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code would require a building permit.

Exemptions cover site disturbance under one thousand square feet, a single family dwelling with under five thousand square feet of disturbance that is not part of a development of two or more units, and home gardening under one thousand square feet. A steep slope is any slope of twenty percent or more measured over a minimum run of ten feet. Subsection D bars new development, grading or stripping of vegetation on those slopes except redevelopment within existing impervious surfaces, and roadway or utility disturbance on them requires a variance plus an analysis of alternatives.

The code prints disturbance caps for the fifteen to 19.9 percent band, ten percent of the slope area in D.1.c and twenty percent in D.1.d. For work on slopes of fifteen percent or greater, subsection D.2 requires a site plan prepared by a New Jersey professional engineer and a grading plan at a scale of not less than one inch equals thirty feet with two-foot contours. The city engineer reviews the material before a permit issues. Section 17.07.070 separately requires topsoil redistribution with at least six inches of cover on disturbed areas, stabilized by seeding or planting, and sodding or stabilizing slopes over ten percent. Vegetative protection is defined as permanent seeding, short-term seeding or sodding.