Bloomfield, NJ Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Section 250-12 of the Bloomfield Township Code establishes the local design flood elevation, or LDFE, in the flood hazard areas mapped under § 250-11. It combines the best available flood hazard data, the Flood Hazard Area Control Act minimum statewide elevation requirements for lowest floors in A, Coastal A and V zones, and ASCE 24 requirements for critical facilities, plus additional freeboard as the chapter specifies.

For a delineated watercourse the minimum is the elevation of the best available flood hazard data area plus one foot, or as N.J.A.C. 7:13 describes. For an undelineated watercourse with a contributory drainage area of 50 acres or more, the applicant has to supply either an unexpired NJDEP flood hazard area verification plus one foot of freeboard and any additional freeboard ASCE 24 requires, or a flood hazard area design flood elevation determined by Method 5 or Method 6 under N.J.A.C. 7:13, sealed and submitted under § 250-35A(3), plus the same freeboard. In Zone AO areas the LDFE is the highest adjacent grade plus the depth number specified on the FIRM panel plus one foot of freeboard, and three feet above the highest adjacent grade where no depth number is specified.

Critical facilities get more. For new and substantially improved Class IV critical facilities, the LDFE is the higher of the 0.2% annual chance (500-year) flood elevation or the flood hazard area design flood elevation with an additional two feet of freeboard. For Class III critical facilities in coastal high hazard areas, it is the higher of those two with an additional one foot.

The Floodplain Administrator, who is the Township Engineer, checks the applicant's elevation under § 250-19, can require a licensed professional engineer's sealed analysis where no design flood elevation is specified, and records the required elevation, determination method and base flood elevation source in the permit under § 250-27. An elevation certificate must be submitted to the Construction Official when the lowest floor is placed and again before final inspection under § 250-40.