Bill Text: NJ A5224 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires data center developers to disclose certain information to public and elected officials before preliminary site plan consideration under MLUL.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-06-08 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology Committee [A5224 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A5224-Introduced.html
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.
