Requires certain large developments, to be used as retail facility or warehouse, to be designed and constructed to accommodate load associated with solar panels.

A1056

ASSEMBLY, No. 1056

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO

District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

Assemblyman KEVIN P. EGAN

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

Assemblyman DAVID BAILEY, JR.

District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)

Assemblywoman HEATHER SIMMONS

District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Karabinchak

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires certain large developments, to be used as
retail facility or warehouse, to be designed and constructed to accommodate
load associated with solar panels.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

requiring certain large developments, to be used
as a retail facility or warehouse, to be designed and constructed to
accommodate load associated with solar panels and amending P.L.2021, c.290.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� Section 1 of P.L.2021,
c.290 (C.52:27D-123.19) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1.� a.�
(1)
� Any newly
constructed warehouse for which an application for a construction permit has
not been declared complete by the enforcing agency before July 1, 2022, shall
be a solar-ready building.

����
(2)� Any newly constructed large
development, for which an application for a construction permit has not been
declared complete by the enforcing agency before the first day of the 12th
month following the effective date of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill), shall be designed and constructed in a
manner so that the load-bearing system for the large development�s roof is able
to accommodate the additional weight of an operational solar photovoltaic or
solar thermal system that covers at least 40 percent of the roof area
calculated as the horizontally projected areas minus the area covered by
skylights, occupied roof decks, vegetative roof areas, and mandatory access or
set back areas required by the State Uniform Construction Code, or as otherwise
provided in the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code, Appendix CA, and
any successor model code.� The large development shall be designed and
constructed in a manner so that the load-bearing system for the large development�s
roof is able: to bear the weight associated with operational solar photovoltaic
or solar thermal systems, regardless of whether the systems are for commercial
or residential use, and regardless of whether the operational solar
photovoltaic or solar thermal system contains polycrystalline, monocrystalline,
thin-film, flexible, or other panels, and to account for environmental factors
such as rain or snow, in addition to the weight associated with operational
solar photovoltaic or solar thermal systems.

���� b.��� �
(1)
� The
Department of Community Affairs shall adopt, pursuant to section 5 of the
"State Uniform Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-123)
and the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1
et seq.), rules and regulations establishing standards for the design and
construction of solar-ready buildings.� The rules and regulations shall
incorporate the provisions of the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code,
Appendix CA, and any successor model code, concerning solar-ready zones.

����
(2)� The Department of
Community Affairs shall adopt, pursuant to section 5 of the "State Uniform
Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-123) and the
"Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.),
rules and regulations establishing standards for the design and construction of
large developments pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section.�

���� c.��� For the purposes of this
section:

����
"Large development"
means any building, room, structure, or facility of at least 75,000 square
feet, and which is designed predominantly for use as a retail facility or
warehouse.�

����
"Retail facility"
means a building, room, structure, or facility used predominantly by one or
more retailers who engages in the sale, within the State, of products intended
for retail sale to consumers for off-premises use or consumption.

���� "Solar-ready
building" means a building that includes a solar-ready zone.�

���� "Solar-ready zone"
means a section of a roof or building overhang designated and reserved for the
future installation of a solar photovoltaic or solar thermal system, which is
at
[
less
]

least

40 percent of the roof area calculated as the horizontally projected areas
minus the area covered by skylights, occupied roof decks, vegetative roof
areas, and mandatory access or set back areas required by the State Uniform
Construction Code, or as otherwise provided in the 2018 International Energy
Conservation Code, Appendix CA, and any successor model code, concerning
solar-ready zones.�

���� "Warehouse" means
any building, room, structure, or facility of at least 100,000 square feet used
primarily for the storage of goods intended for sale.

(cf: P.L.2021, c.290, s.1)

���� 2.� This act shall take effect
on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment,
except that the Commissioner of Community Affairs shall be permitted to take
anticipatory action necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires newly
constructed large retail and warehouse developments to be designed and
constructed in a manner so that the load-bearing system for the large
development�s roof is able to accommodate the additional weight of an
operational solar photovoltaic or solar thermal system.� The bill applies to
such large developments, for which an application for a construction permit has
not been declared complete before the first day of the 12th month following the
effective date of the bill, and requires the Department of Community Affairs to
adopt rules and regulations establishing standards for the design and
construction of large developments that are designed and constructed in a
manner so that the load-bearing system for the large development�s roof is able
to accommodate solar photovoltaic or solar thermal systems on such large
developments, as specified in the bill.�

���� The bill defines the term
"large development" to mean any building, room, structure, or
facility of at least 75,000 square feet, and which is designed predominantly
for use as a warehouse, as otherwise defined in current law, or as a retail
facility.� The bill defines the term "retail facility" to mean a
building, room, structure, or facility used predominantly by one or more
retailers who engages in the sale, within the State, of products intended for
retail sale to consumers for off-premises use or consumption.�

���� The bill would take effect on
the first day of the fourth month following the date of enactment, except the
Commissioner of Community Affairs would be permitted to take anticipatory
action necessary to effectuate the provisions of the bill.

���� Data shows that the retail
supply chain contributes 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally, which
emissions continue to contribute to global climate change.� By requiring newly
constructed large retail and warehouse developments to be designed and
constructed to accommodate operational solar photovoltaic or solar thermal
systems, the sector would contribute less to global climate change while
benefitting from economies of scale for the location of these systems in the
most densely populated state in the country.