Atlantic County, NJ Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

County Code § 81-6, in the chapter governing hotels, boardinghouses and rooming houses, states that every dwelling covered by the chapter shall be free from rodents, vermin and insects, and that rodent or vermin extermination and proofing may be required by the Health Officer. The same section requires every hotel, boardinghouse or rooming house to be kept clean and free from garbage and rubbish. Section 81-7 backs this up with storage rules: garbage and other organic waste must go in watertight metal or other approved receptacles fitted with tight-fitting covers, and any outside storage of garbage or rubbish must be handled in a clean, sanitary manner so it does not become a public health nuisance.

Enforcement runs through the certificate-of-approval process in §§ 81-8 through 81-10: the Health Officer inspects the premises before issuing or renewing a certificate, which is valid for no more than 12 months, and can deny or decline to renew it if rodent, vermin or sanitation problems are not corrected. Because the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs is the enforcing agency under § 81-11, DCA inspectors, not municipal code enforcement, carry out the periodic inspections that check for rodent and vermin conditions in this chapter's covered lodging uses. The rule applies only within municipalities that are part of the Atlantic County Public Health Agency, per § 81-12.