East Brunswick, NJ Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Article XXVII of the East Brunswick Township zoning chapter, Flood Damage Prevention, is titled the "Floodplain Management Regulations of East Brunswick Township." Section 228-230.101 states that the regulations, together with the flood provisions of the Uniform Construction Code and the New Jersey Flood Hazard Area Control Act, apply to all proposed development in the flood hazard areas established in § 228-230.102. The reach is wide: subdivisions, site improvements and utilities, manufactured homes, recreational vehicles, new construction, additions, substantial improvements, tanks, and temporary structures or storage all fall inside the rules.

East Brunswick Township was accepted into the National Flood Insurance Program on January 6, 1982. Flood hazard areas are drawn from the Flood Insurance Study for Middlesex County dated July 6, 2010, and the Flood Insurance Rate Map panels adopted by reference. The Township must also compare the most recent preliminary FEMA mapping and state delineations, because the regulated flood hazard area in New Jersey can be larger than the FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area. The maps and studies are on file at the Department of Public Works, 4 Harts Lane, East Brunswick.

Section 228-230.104 requires a written application on a form furnished by the Floodplain Administrator, with a site plan, construction documents, grading and filling plans, and the valuation of the proposed work, including ordinary maintenance and minor work. A permit becomes invalid when the development is not commenced within 180 days after issuance, or when work is suspended or abandoned for 180 days. Extensions must be requested in writing, and each one runs for no more than 180 days.

Two engineering gates apply. In riverine areas where design flood elevations exist but no floodway is designated, the Floodplain Administrator cannot permit new construction, substantial improvement or fill unless a licensed professional engineer shows the cumulative effect will not raise the design flood elevation more than 0.2 foot. Before any floodway encroachment, the applicant must submit an engineer's certification that the work will not cause any increase in the base flood level. Section 228-230.101 adds that where these regulations conflict with another ordinance, the more restrictive one governs.