Bill Text: NJ S4304 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits agreements intended to conceal certain information concerning development of data centers under MLUL.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-05-18 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S4304 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-S4304-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator BRIAN P. STACK
District 33 (Hudson)
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.
