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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5036
February Session, 2026
AN ACT STREAMLINING RESIDENTIAL SOLAR PERMITTING AND
ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2026) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Administrative 2
Services; 3
(2) "Municipality" means any town, city, borough, consolidated town 4
and city or consolidated town and borough; 5
(3) "Residential solar photovoltaic system" means equipment and 6
devices that (A) have the primary purpose of collecting solar energy and 7
generating electricity by photovoltaic effect, (B) have a nameplate 8
capacity rating of twelve kilowatts or less, and (C) are installed on the 9
roof of a single-family or multifamily home; and 10
(4) "Smart solar permitting platform" means an Internet -based 11
platform developed or implemented by the Commissioner of 12
Administrative Services to automate the review of an application for a 13
building permit to construct a residential solar photovoltaic system. 14
(b) Not later than July 1, 2028, the Commissioner of Administrative 15
Services shall develop or implement the smart solar permitting platform 16
for the purpose of (1) automatically reviewing applications to construct 17
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a residential solar photovoltaic system, and (2) instantly releasing a 18
building permit to construct such system if such system complies with 19
the Connecticut State Building Code. To satisfy the requirements of this 20
section, the commissioner may either develop the platform or 21
implement a platform developed by a third party, provided a platform 22
developed by a third party shall be provided to the commissioner at no 23
cost or low cost, as determined by the commissioner. 24
(c) The commissioner shall develop or implement and administer the 25
smart solar permitting platform to: 26
(1) Be available for use by the Department of Administrative Services, 27
any municipality, any architect licensed pursuant to chapter 390 of the 28
general statutes, any professional engineer licensed pursuant to chapter 29
391 of the general statutes and any contractor licensed pursuant to 30
chapter 393 of the general statutes; 31
(2) Perform an automated evaluation of any application to construct 32
a residential solar photovoltaic system to determine whether such 33
system complies with the requirements of the Connecticut State 34
Building Code and whether such application complies with the 35
regulations adopted by the commissioner pursuant to this section; 36
(3) Instantly release a building permit for any such application that is 37
determined to comply with the requirements of the Connecticut State 38
Building Code and the regulations adopted by the commissioner 39
pursuant to this section after such evaluation; 40
(4) Have the capacity to process a permit application for not less than 41
seventy-five per cent of residential rooftop solar photovoltaic systems 42
that (A) weigh less than four pounds or less per square foot, (B) provide 43
electrical power to detached single and multi -family homes, and (C) 44
comply with Connecticut State Building Code requirements for 45
installation on an existing residential structure; 46
(5) Provide users of the platform with the ability to submit an 47
application to construct a residential solar photovoltaic system twenty -48
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four hours a day, except when the platform is unavailable because of a 49
system upgrade or maintenance; 50
(6) Allow the use of digital signatures, stamps, seals or certifications 51
on all submitted applications and supporting documents necessary for 52
the issuance of a permit; 53
(7) Provide customer service to assist users in navigating the 54
platform; and 55
(8) Be updated as necessary to conform with changes to the 56
Connecticut State Building Code or any other applicable state law. 57
(d) (1) A municipality shall either allow for the submission of 58
applications to construct a residential solar photovoltaic system through 59
the smart solar permitting platform or through an alternative automated 60
solar permitting platform that satisfies the requirements set forth in this 61
section in an equivalent manner as the smart solar permitting platform. 62
Any municipality that implements an alternative automated solar 63
permitting platform shall enable access to the alternative platform not 64
later than January 1, 2029. A municipality that implements an 65
alternative automated solar permitting platform shall not require an 66
applicant to submit any documentation or information that is not 67
required through the smart solar permitting platform. 68
(2) A municipality that allows for the submission of residential solar 69
photovoltaic system applications through the smart solar permitting 70
platform shall, not later than January 1, 2029, revise its permitting fee 71
schedule to reflect any reduction in cost or resources expended by the 72
municipality to permit residential solar energy systems. 73
(e) (1) A municipality that allows for the submission of applications 74
to construct a residential solar photovoltaic system through an 75
alternative automated solar permitting platform shall submit a 76
compliance report to the commissioner, in a form and manner 77
prescribed by the commissioner, not later than sixty days after the 78
municipality implements such alternative platform. A local compliance 79
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report shall include, but need not be limited to: 80
(A) The date of compliance by the municipality; 81
(B) The software used for compliance by the municipality; and 82
(C) Documentation demonstrating that the alternative automated 83
solar permitting platform implemented by the municipality satisfies the 84
requirements set forth in subsection (c) of this section in an equivalent 85
manner as the platform implemented by the commissioner. 86
(2) If the commissioner determines that documentation submitted in 87
a local compliance report pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection 88
is insufficient to verify that the alternative platform satisfies the 89
requirements set forth in subsection (c) of this section in an equivalent 90
manner as the platform implemented by the commissioner, the 91
municipality shall provide the commissioner, at the commissioner's 92
request, access to the municipality's alternative platform so that the 93
commissioner may determine whether the alternative platform 94
complies with said requirements. 95
(3) The commissioner shall provide public access to any local 96
compliance report submitted by a municipality on the Internet web site 97
of the Department of Administrative Services. 98
(f) (1) A municipality that implements an alternative automated solar 99
permitting platform pursuant to this section shall, commencing on July 100
1, 2029, submit an annual report to the commissioner. The commissioner 101
may establish guidelines for annual reports required under this 102
subsection. Each such annual report shall include, but need not be 103
limited to: 104
(A) The number of permits released by the municipality for 105
residential solar photovoltaic systems through the alternative 106
automated solar permitting platform and the relevant characteristics of 107
such systems; 108
(B) The number of permits released by the municipality for 109
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residential solar photovoltaic systems through means other than the 110
alternative automated solar permitting platform and the relevant 111
characteristics of such systems; and 112
(C) Documentation demonstrating that the alternative automated 113
solar permitting platform satisfies the requirements set forth in 114
subsection (c) of this section in an equivalent manner as the platform 115
implemented by the commissioner. 116
(2) If the commissioner determines that documentation submitted 117
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection is insufficient to verify that 118
the alternative automated solar permitting platform meets the 119
requirements set forth in subsection (c) of this section in an equivalent 120
manner as the platform implemented by the commissioner, the 121
municipality shall provide the commissioner, at the commissioner's 122
request, access to the platform so that the commissioner may determine 123
whether the alternative platform complies with said requirements. 124
(3) The commissioner shall provide public access to annual reports 125
submitted by a municipality on the Internet web site of the Department 126
of Administrative Services. 127
(g) The commissioner shall prescribe the form and format of 128
applications for permits, including supporting documentation, 129
specifications, requirements for digital signatures, stamps, seals or 130
certifications and other information exchanged through the smart solar 131
permitting platform. The commissioner shall require that any 132
application and supporting documents submitted pursuant to this 133
section be prepared and submitted by any architect licensed pursuant 134
to chapter 390 of the general statutes, any professional engineer licensed 135
pursuant to chapter 391 of the general statutes or any contractor licensed 136
pursuant to chapter 393 of the general statutes. The commissioner shall 137
waive any requirement related to physical signatures, stamps, seals, 138
certifications or notarization imposed by statute, regulation or local 139
ordinance in order for the smart solar permitting platform to process 140
permit applications, provided the permit application contains a digital 141
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signature, stamp, seal or certification. 142
(h) A person exchanging information through either the smart solar 143
permitting platform or through an alternative automated solar 144
permitting platform shall not be subject to a licensing sanction, civil 145
penalty, fine, permit disapproval, revocation or other sanction for 146
failure to comply with any statute, regulation or local ordinance that 147
requires submission of such information in physical form, including, but 148
not limited to, any requirement that the information be (1) in a particular 149
form or of a particular size, (2) submitted with multiple copies, (3) 150
physically attached to another document, (4) an original document, or 151
(5) signed, stamped, sealed, certified or notarized. 152
(i) The commissioner, in consultation with the Public Utilities 153
Regulatory Authority and the Commissioner of Energy and 154
Environmental Protection, shall issue a request for proposal for the 155
development of the smart solar permitting platform consistent with the 156
requirements of subsection (c) of this section. In addition to any other 157
requirements that the commissioner may deem appropriate, the request 158
for proposal shall: 159
(1) Incorporate the standards developed pursuant to subsection (c) of 160
this section; and 161
(2) Require all bidders to demonstrate experience in the development 162
of one or more Internet-based automated permit-review platforms. 163
Sec. 2. Section 22a -1f of the general statutes is amended by adding 164
subsection (f) as follows (Effective July 1, 2026): 165
(NEW) (f) Environmental impact evaluations shall not be required for 166
the installation of an electric vehicle charging station, as defined in 167
section 16 -19f, and charging infrastructure associated with any such 168
station, or for the installation or construction of a solar photovoltaic 169
facility on developed land if the owner, lessor or operator of such 170
developed land receives state funding. 171
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Sec. 3. (NEW) ( Effective July 1, 2026 ) In connection with the 172
negotiation of a new or renewed lease agreement pursuant to chapter 59 173
of the general statutes, or at the time a capital infrastructure 174
improvement becomes feasible and important to agency operations, as 175
determined by the Commissioner of Administrative Services, the 176
commissioner may enter into a financing agreement with an owner or 177
lessor of real property, a public utility or a third -party financing 178
provider for the installation of infrastructure related to electric vehicle 179
charging, renewable energy generation or energy storage. In 180
determining whether to enter into any such financing agreement, the 181
commissioner shall consider the (1) expected life of such infrastructure 182
improvement, (2) length of the expected use of the site or the life of the 183
lease, (3) length of the state's needs for the infrastructure improvement, 184
(4) benefits provided to the property owner, and (5) operations and 185
maintenance requirements for equipment associated with the 186
infrastructure improvement. 187
Sec. 4. Section 16-245nn of the general statutes is repealed. ( Effective 188
January 1, 2029) 189
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2026 22a-1f(f)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 4 January 1, 2029 Repealer section
ET Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO
APP Joint Favorable