East Brunswick, NJ Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Chapter 215 of the Code of the Township of East Brunswick, titled Vermin, sets the Township Council's rule in § 215-2: rodents, insects and other pests are prohibited within the Township, and buildings, lots, premises and commercial vehicles must stay free of them and of conditions conducive to pest life. The duty reaches beyond homes. The definition of building covers any structure formerly, presently or to be used for human habitation, use or occupancy, including accessory buildings, and the chapter separately names lots, premises and commercial vehicles.

The duty falls on the person in control. Under § 215-1 that term covers the owner or part owner, anyone authorized to exercise an owner's powers for purchase, sale, use, occupying or maintenance, and any other person who has the use or custody of the property or any part of it. A tenant with custody of a unit and the owner of the building can both qualify.

Section 215-3 requires the person in control to apply continuous eradication measures when a property is subject to infestation. Under § 215-4, once the Director of Health and Welfare of the Township, or the Director's agents, determines that a property is infested, the person or persons in control must take whatever eradication measures the Director considers necessary. The chapter defines eradication as elimination of rodents, insects and other pests through traps, poisons, fumigation or any other method of extermination acceptable to the Director.

Prevention is built into the chapter as well. Section 215-5 prohibits the accumulation of rubbish, debris and disused combustible and noncombustible waste material, and it sends garbage handling to Chapter 114 of the Township Code. Section 215-6 requires building material, lumber, boxes, cartons, barrels, containers, machinery, raw material, fabricated goods, junk, food and animal feed to be kept, stored or handled in a manner acceptable to the Director, and structural harborages that cannot be eliminated must be periodically uncovered and inspected. Harborage is defined as any condition that provides shelter or protection for rodents, insects and other pests.