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S4304
SENATE, No. 4304
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MAY 18, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator� BRIAN P. STACK
District 33 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator McKnight
SYNOPSIS
���� Prohibits agreements intended to conceal certain
information concerning development of data centers under MLUL.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning non-disclosure agreements and the
development of data centers 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.��� a.� As used in this
section:
���� "Data center" means
a facility in this State: (1) whose primary services are the storage,
management, and processing of digital data; and (2) that is used to house
computer and network systems, including associated components such as servers,
network equipment and appliances, telecommunications, and data storage systems,
systems for monitoring and managing infrastructure performance,
Internet-related equipment and services, data communications connections,
environmental controls, fire protection systems, and security systems and
services.
���� b.��� (1)� An applicant, including
any agent of an applicant, in an application for development for a data center,
shall not enter into any agreement, including a non-disclosure agreement, that
has the purpose or effect of concealing the details, or preventing public
review, with:
���� (a)�� an approving authority
or municipal agency: or
���� (b)�� a property seller.
���� (2)�� An agreement described
in this subsection shall be deemed against public policy and unenforceable.
���� c.���� An applicant to develop
a data center shall attest as part of the application that at no time did the
buyer, including any agent of the buyer, of the real property proposed for
development, the developer, or any other party involved in the real estate
transaction, enter into any agreement, including a non-disclosure agreement,
with the property seller that had the purpose or effect of concealing the
details, or preventing public review, of the development plans for the
property.
���� d.��� An approving authority
or municipal agency shall not approve a minor site plan, minor subdivision,
site plan, or subdivision, as defined in sections 3.2 and 3.4 of P.L.1975,
c.291 (C.40:55D-5 and C.40:55D-7), or grant any other approval required by an
approving authority, municipal agency, or enforcing agency pursuant to
P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.) or P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.),
if the applicant violates a provision of
P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).
���� e.���� The provisions of this
section shall not be construed to implicitly permit an applicant from entering into
any agreement, including a non-disclosure agreement, that has the purpose or
effect of concealing the details, or preventing public review, for the
development of any structure other than a data center, to the extent that the
"Senator Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act," P.L.1975, c.231
(C.10:4-6 et seq.), or any other law, prohibits these practices.�
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill expressly prohibits
applicants, including any agent of an applicant, for the development of a data
center, as defined in the bill, from entering into agreements, commonly known
as non-disclosure agreements, with approving authorities, municipal agencies,
and property sellers.� The bill provides that these agreements are against
public policy and unenforceable.
���� The bill also provides that an
applicant is to attest that at no time did the buyer, or any agent of the
buyer, of the real property proposed for development, the developer, or any
other party involved in the real estate transaction, enter into any agreement,
including a non-disclosure agreement, with the seller that had the purpose or
effect of concealing the details, or preventing public review, of the
development plans for the property if the applicant is developing a data
center.
���� An approving authority or
municipal agency is not to approve a minor site plan, minor subdivision, site
plan, or subdivision, or grant any other approval required by an approving
authority, municipal agency, or enforcing agency, if the applicant violates a
provision of this bill.
���� Nothing in this bill is to
construed to implicitly permit an applicant from entering into any agreement,
including a non-disclosure agreement, that has the purpose or effect of
concealing the details, or preventing public review, for the development of any
structure other than a data center, to the extent that the "Senator Byron
M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act," P.L.1975, c.231 (C.10:4-6 et seq.), or
any other law, prohibits these practices.