New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Chapter 7 - COASTAL PERMIT PROGRAM RULES
Subchapter 9 - SPECIAL AREAS
Section 7:7-9.25 - Flood hazard areas

(a) Flood hazard areas are areas subject to flooding from the flood hazard area design flood, as defined by the Department under the Flood Hazard Area Control Act rules at N.J.A.C. 7:13. Flood hazard areas include those areas mapped as such by the Department, areas defined or delineated as an A or a V zone by FEMA, and any unmapped areas subject to flooding by the flood hazard area design flood. Flood hazard areas are subject to either tidal or fluvial flooding and the extent of flood hazard areas shall be determined or calculated in accordance with the procedures at N.J.A.C. 7:13-3.

(b) In a tidal flood hazard area below the mean high water line, this section shall apply only to the following activities:

(c) Dedication of flood hazard areas for purposes of public open space is encouraged.

(d) In an undeveloped portion of a flood hazard area that is within 100 feet of a navigable water body other than the Atlantic Ocean, development is prohibited unless the development is one or two single-family homes or duplexes in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:7-15.2(e) or is for a water dependent use. For the purposes of this subsection and (e) below, an "undeveloped" area is an area that has no impervious cover.

(e) In a portion of an undeveloped flood hazard area that is 100 feet or farther from a navigable waterway, development is conditionally acceptable provided the development would not prevent potential water-dependent use in any portion of the flood hazard area within 100 feet of a navigable water body.

(f) Development in flood hazard areas shall conform with the applicable design and construction standards of the following:

(g) Development in a flood hazard area shall comply with the requirements for impervious cover and vegetative cover under N.J.A.C. 7:7-13.

(h) If endangered and/or threatened wildlife or species habitat is present in the flood hazard area such that the area is also an endangered or threatened wildlife or plant species habitat special area in accordance with 7:7-9.36, then the requirements of 7:7-9.36, Endangered or threatened wildlife or plant species habitats, shall apply.

(i) For the purposes of this section, if a term is defined in this chapter and in the Flood Hazard Area Control Act rules at N.J.A.C. 7:13, the definition in N.J.A.C. 7:13 shall govern. For any term used in this section that is not defined or otherwise described in this chapter but that is defined or described in the Flood Hazard Area Control Act rules at N.J.A.C. 7:13, the definition or description in N.J.A.C. 7:13 shall apply.

(j) Rationale: The goal of this rule is to reduce losses of life and property resulting from unwise development of flood hazard areas, and allow uses compatible with periodic flooding, agriculture and forestry, recreation, and fish and wildlife habitat and uses which require a water's edge location. This rule is consistent with the State Waterfront Development Law's objective of safeguarding port facilities and waterfront resources for the public's overall economic advantage. The rule will ensure that the State's waterfront is not pre-empted by uses which could function equally well at inland locations.

Flood hazard areas adjacent to rivers are subject to flooding in severe fluvial storms. They are also critical elements of the coastal ecosystems, providing flood storage capacity, physical and biochemical water filtration, primary productivity, and wildlife habitats.

For these reasons, the preferred rule is to preserve those flood hazard corridors that are in an undeveloped state with native or adapted forest vegetation for conservation purposes and to allow limited exceptions for water dependent uses, infill, and uses for which there is no feasible alternative location.

The location acceptability for a site under this rule applies only to flood hazard areas which have not been disturbed by filling. Sites subject to this rule, therefore, tend to be in a more natural state than sites subject to the filled water's edge rule. Accordingly this rule is more restrictive, discouraging development which would unnecessarily disturb vegetation, and requiring water dependency within 100 feet of a navigable water body.

The development of one or two single-family homes or duplexes within an undeveloped portion of a flood hazard area that is within 100 feet of a navigable water body is conditionally acceptable provided specific design and construction standards are met to ensure that the building does not exacerbate flooding or put the inhabitants at risk.