Bill Text: NJ A3356 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires establishment of regulations for solar panel installation, maintenance, and education.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee [A3356 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A3356-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ANTHONY M. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires establishment of regulations for solar panel installation, maintenance, and education.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning solar panels and supplementing chapter 27D of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. On or before the second January next following the enactment of P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Commissioner of Community Affairs, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall promulgate regulations concerning rooftop solar panels which establish the following:
a. Technical and safety standards concerning the installation and maintenance of rooftop solar panels on new or existing residential and commercial structures;
b. Professional qualifications, which may include a mandatory certification process, for contractors installing or performing maintenance on rooftop solar panels on new or existing residential and commercial structures;
c. Educational requirements, which may include a mandatory certification process, for any local official required to inspect, or grant permits for the installation of, rooftop solar panels on new or existing residential and commercial structures, provided, however, that any expenses associated with a certification process required by a regulation promulgated pursuant to this section shall be the responsibility of the individual seeking certification, and shall not be paid by a public entity under any circumstance; and
d. Penalties for non-compliance with the regulations promulgated pursuant to this section.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill directs the Commissioner of Community Affairs to promulgate regulations to establish technical and safety standards for the installation and maintenance of solar panels installed on the roof of any new or existing residential and commercial structures. This bill also requires the promulgation of regulations to establish educational requirements for local officials responsible to grant permits for the installation of solar panels, and for those local officials charged with inspecting such panels.
No current law or regulation provides any technical or safety standards with respect to the installation, maintenance, or inspection of rooftop solar panels in the State. This bill would make certain that solar panels are installed and maintained properly and in a safe manner, and that local officials are knowledgeable about this increasingly common type of alternative energy.
