Requires data center developers to disclose certain information to public and elected officials before preliminary site plan consideration under MLUL.

A5224

ASSEMBLY, No. 5224

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED JUNE 8, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman� CHRIS TULLY

District 38 (Bergen)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires data center developers to disclose certain
information to public and elected officials before preliminary site plan
consideration under MLUL.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning preliminary site plan applications
for data center development and supplementing P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et
seq.)

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

���� 1.��� The Legislature finds
and declares that:

���� a.���� The rapid development
of large data centers has created significant impacts on local communities,
public utilities, land use planning, environmental resources, and electric grid
reliability.

���� b.��� Data center developments
frequently require substantial quantities of electricity, water, land, and
public infrastructure improvements, which may increase costs to utility
ratepayers, taxpayers, and local governments.

���� c.���� In many instances,
local governments and affected residents have not received timely, accurate, or
complete information concerning the increased electricity demand, water
consumption, backup generation capacity, emissions, noise impacts, land
acquisition, tax incentives, or long-term operational and environmental impacts
associated with proposed data center developments.

���� d.��� Transparency and
accountability prior to the start of the development process are necessary to
ensure that the benefits and burdens of data center development are publicly
addressed and understood so that communities can make fully-informed decisions.

���� e.���� Data center
developments create substantial environmental and public health impacts,
including increased greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution from backup diesel
generators, excessive water consumption, noise pollution, ecosystem destruction,
stormwater runoff, and degradation of natural resources.

���� f.���� The Legislature
therefore finds that it is in the public interest to require data center
developers to fully inform the public about the location, size, and
environmental and social impacts of a proposed data center before the start of
the project so that the affected members of the public can make the best
decisions for their community.

���� 2.��� As used in P.L.��� ,
c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

���� �Data center� means any
facility, campus, structure, or portion thereof, whether newly constructed,
expanded, retrofitted, leased, or operated, that is specifically designed,
configured, or materially modified to support the training, refining,
inference, deployment, or operation of artificial intelligence systems,
including generative artificial intelligence systems.� �Data center� shall
include any facility that:

���� houses or is designed to house
high-density clusters of graphics processing units, tensor processing units,
application-specific integrated circuits, or other specialized accelerators
used for artificial intelligence computation workloads;

���� requires electrical load,
cooling capacity, or water use materially attributable to artificial
intelligence computational operations; or

���� is represented in public
disclosures, investor materials, marketing materials, or contractual agreements
as providing computing capacity for artificial intelligence model development,
training, or deployment.

���� �Local elected official� means
a person elected on the federal, State, or local level who represents a jurisdiction
within which a developer intends to develop a data center.

���� �Non-disclosure agreement�
means any agreement that has the purpose or effect of concealing the details,
or preventing public review, of the data center development.� A �non-disclosure
agreement� shall include, but not be limited to, an agreement that:

���� obligates a party to maintain
the confidentiality of specific, sensitive, or proprietary information
disclosed to the recipient by another party;

���� prohibits and recipient from
sharing, publishing, or otherwise communicating any information to any person
not expressly authorized by the terms of the agreement;

���� identifies the specific
categories of the information, such as trade secrets, business negotiations, or
client data, and the timeframe for which the obligation of secrecy remains in
effect; and

���� subjects a breaching party to
legal remedies, which may include monetary damages, injunction, or other
equitable relief, as provided by law or the terms of the agreement.

���� 3.��� a.� Notwithstanding any
provision of law, rule, regulation, or ordinance to the contrary, and in
addition to the requirements of section 34 of P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-46), a
developer who submits to a planning board an application for preliminary site
plan approval of the development of a data center on or after the effective
date of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this
bill) shall:

���� (1)�� disclose to each local
elected official, and to the public in a press release, at least 180 days
before submitting the site plan for review:

���� (a)�� the location at which
the data center is to be developed;

���� (b)�� the estimated public
resources needed to establish the data center, including, but not limited to,
the estimated cost of the data center and any tax incentives the developer has
used or intends to use; and

���� (c)�� the environmental impact
of the data center;

���� (2)�� establish ongoing
engagement with local media and social media that serve the area;

���� (3)�� post physical signage
concerning the data center at the proposed development site;

���� (4)�� provide data center
development information materials in multiple languages, including English,
Spanish, and other commonly-spoken languages in the area;

���� (5)�� send direct mail to
properties within five miles of the data center development site;

���� (6)�� limit the use of
non-disclosure agreements during the preliminary site plan approval process
only to protect confidential or proprietary information that, if wrongfully
divulged, would provide a competitor with an unfair advantage; and

���� (7)�� be prohibited from using
a non-disclosure agreement concerning the data center with a government entity
or official or to conceal use of public resources.

���� b.��� If more than one
developer is involved in the development, ownership, or operation of the data
center, each entity shall coordinate and issue a single, joint public
disclosure that satisfies the requirements of paragraph (1) of subsection a. of
this section.

���� c.���� A preliminary site plan
application for the development of a data center submitted pursuant to section
34 of P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-46) shall not be deemed complete unless the
developer includes an environmental impact analysis of the data center
development conducted by an independent third party and funded by the
developer.� The environmental impact analysis shall include, but not be limited
to, impacts upon air quality, water quality, soil, land use, wildlife, habitat,
biodiversity, ecosystems, climate public health, environmental justice
communities, and the sustainability of natural resources.

���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires a developer
who submits to a planning board an application for preliminary site plan
approval of the development of a data center, as defined in the bill, to
disclose to each local elected official, and to the public in a press release,
at least 180 days before submitting the site plan for review certain
information enumerated in the bill.� The developer is to also prove other
engagement with the public concerning the data center.� The bill provides that
a developer is to limit the use of non-disclosure agreements during the
preliminary site plan approval process and is to be prohibited from using a
non-disclosure agreement concerning the data center with a government entity or
official or to conceal use of public resources.

���� If more than one developer is
involved in the development, ownership, or operation of the data center, each
entity is to coordinate and issue a single, joint public disclosure that
satisfies the provisions of the bill.

���� The bill provides that a data
center preliminary site plan application submitted pursuant to the �Municipal
Land Use Law� is not to be deemed complete unless the developer includes an
environmental impact analysis of the data center development conducted by an
independent third party and funded by the developer.�