Bloomfield, NJ Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Chapter 250 of the Bloomfield Township Code, adopted by the Township Council on June 26, 2023 by Ord. No. 23-32, builds on § 250-11. The Township was accepted into the National Flood Insurance Program on August 15, 1977. The effective flood insurance study is titled Flood Insurance Study, Essex County, New Jersey (All Jurisdictions), dated April 3, 2020, and its Flood Insurance Rate Map panels, listed in Table 11(1), are adopted by reference. Most panels carry an April 3, 2020 effective date, while panels 34013C0114 and 34013C0118 are listed with June 4, 2007.

FEMA is not the only map. Section 250-11 also requires use of federal best available information and other best available data such as high water elevations and groundwater flooding areas, and that other information cannot produce less restrictive elevations, design standards or smaller flood hazard areas. State-regulated flood hazard areas under the Flood Hazard Area Control Act exist along every regulated water with a drainage area of 50 acres or greater, and they can extend beyond the FEMA boundaries. Table 11(3) lists state studied waters in Bloomfield: the Second River, the Second River Tributary and the Third River. The maps and studies are on file at the Engineering Department, 1 Municipal Plaza, Bloomfield, New Jersey 07003.

Under § 250-13 the Township Engineer is the Floodplain Administrator. Section 250-29 requires anyone intending any development in a flood hazard area to apply to the Floodplain Administrator first. Floodway encroachment needs an engineer's no-rise certification under § 250-22, new development in riverine areas with design flood elevations but no floodway must not raise the design flood elevation more than 0.2 foot under § 250-21, and development in riparian zones is prohibited under § 250-25 unless NJDEP permitting is in place. The Zoning Board of Adjustment hears variances under § 250-42.