New Jersey is the first and only State to adopt proactive land use regulations that are safer from flooding and are more resilient to the increasing impacts of climate change. The New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Threat Resilient Environments and Landscapes (NJPACT REAL) were adopted January 20 upon publication in the New Jersey Register. The NJPACT REAL rules are based on groundbreaking climate change impact modeling science and require new development to be built above sea-level rise as projected for the year 2100.
The NJPACT REAL land resource protection rules “better support New Jersey communities, residents, and businesses in building their resilience to sea-level rise, extreme weather, chronic flooding, and other impacts of our changing climate. Almost two-thirds of New Jersey’s coastline is already at high or very high risk to coastal erosion and 98 percent of the coastline is projected at medium or very high risk to sea level rise. Over half a million acres of New Jersey land are highly vulnerable to coastal hazards,” according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).
“Today’s action is a bold move to align New Jersey’s land use rules with the realities of climate change and an important complement to the Inland Flood Protection Rule adopted by NJDEP two and a half years ago. Climate change is already knocking at our doors, flooding our streets, and threatening the places we call home. Too many New Jersey families are living with the fear that the next storm could be the one that takes their homes, their livelihoods, or worse,” said Jim Waltman, executive director of the Pennington-based Watershed Institute.
“By planning for higher seas and more intense storms, these rules will save lives, reduce costly damages, and safeguard the natural systems that make our state more resilient.”
“The NJPACT REAL rules will save lives and protect properties. The NJPACT REAL rules are science-based policies that require new development to adapt to increased sea level rise flooding,” said Jennifer M. Coffey, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC). “The rule proposal was, however, weakened at the behest of developers in July 2025, and it now includes a provision to allow for affordable housing to be built in flood prone areas. It’s immoral to construct housing for the most economically vulnerable New Jerseyans in the highest risk areas.”
In addition to adopting building elevation requirements for new residential development, the NJPACT real rules include new stormwater management requirements for redevelopment projects previously exempt; new nature-based solutions permitting designed to accelerate restoration projects; and additional protections for wetlands.
Many of the roads and buildings in service today on New Jersey’s coast will be likely unusable by the year 2100 given the increasing flooding impacts of sea level rise. New Jersey is one of the states most impacted by climate change with the fastest increase in warming temperatures and the third highest number of flood insurance claims in the nation. From 1980–2024 (as of September 10, 2024), there have been 72 confirmed weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each to affect New Jersey, according to the National Center for Environmental Information. On average, New Jersey experiences a $1 billion weather event every 32 weeks.
