Bloomfield, NJ Environmental Rules: Vehicle Idling Restrictions (2026)

Section 254-26.1 of the Bloomfield Township Code, added 9-8-2009 by Ord. No. 09-51, states its purpose as preventing the air pollution caused by the idling of diesel- or gasoline-powered motor vehicles that jeopardize the health, welfare or safety of citizens or degrade the quality of life. It covers any diesel-powered or gasoline-fueled motor vehicle, with gasoline-fueled defined to include alcohol fuels and hydrocarbon-alcohol fuel blends. Idle is defined as the operating mode of a nonloaded, throttled engine at the revolutions per minute specified by the manufacturer or at any other engine speed.

The core rule in Subsection C(1) is three consecutive minutes for a vehicle that is not in motion. Two longer limits apply. A motor vehicle at the vehicle operator's place of business where it is permanently assigned is allowed 30 consecutive minutes. Any motor vehicle is allowed 15 consecutive minutes when its engine has been stopped for three or more hours.

Subsection C(2) lists eight situations where the limit does not apply: autobuses while discharging or picking up passengers; motor vehicles stopped in a line of traffic; vehicles being or waiting to be examined by state or federal motor vehicle inspectors; vehicles whose power source is used for necessary and definitively prescribed mechanical operation other than propulsion, passenger compartment heating or air conditioning; emergency motor vehicles in an emergency situation; vehicles while being repaired; vehicles connecting, detaching or exchanging trailers; and vehicles manufactured with a sleeper berth while used by the operator for sleeping or resting in a nonresidentially zoned area. Heating or air conditioning of the passenger compartment is therefore not an excuse on its own.

Enforcement is shared. Subsection E empowers local health officials, the Bloomfield Police Department and the local code enforcement office to enforce the section and issue summonses.