New Jersey P.L. 2026, chapter 9: nuclear facility permit finding

New Jersey P.L. 2026, chapter 9 amends the permit section on approval of a nuclear electricity generating facility. The commissioner shall not approve construction and operation unless the stated radioactive-waste finding is made. The opened chapter is not limited to small modular reactors and it is not a reactor license. The prior section text was not opened.

Category: Laws, rules and executive directives
Status: In effect
Instrument: statute · N.J. P.L. 2026, c.9 (S3870)
Issued by: New Jersey Legislature
Jurisdiction: New Jersey
Affects: Siting, Environmental review
In effect from: 8 Apr 2026 · actual · day
Expiry or completion: None recorded
Operative text: New Jersey P.L. 2026, chapter 9 (P.L. 2026, c.9 chapter text, opened 4 October 2026)
Last checked · next review: 2026-10-04 · 2027-04-15

Legal and geographic scope

Official chapter text opened 4 October 2026. P.L. 2026, chapter 9 amends section 11 of P.L. 1973, chapter 185 (C.13:19-11). The section heading covers grounds for denial of a permit application, a conditional permit, and approval of a nuclear electricity generating facility. The opened text says the commissioner shall not approve construction and operation of a nuclear electricity generating facility unless the commissioner finds that the proposed method for storage or disposal of the radioactive waste the facility will produce will be safe, conforms to Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards, and will effectively remove danger to life and the environment from that waste. The chapter says it was approved on 8 April 2026 and that it takes effect immediately. It does not limit the facility to a small modular reactor, and it does not issue a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license.

Not approved or still pending

The text of C.13:19-11 as it stood before this amendment was not opened, so the words this chapter changed are not separately recorded. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards named in the finding were not opened. No commissioner decision and no project were opened. The act does not approve a reactor.

Dated lifecycle

8 Apr 2026 · actual · day · Signed — The official chapter page says Approved April 8, 2026. (New Jersey P.L. 2026, chapter 9)
8 Apr 2026 · actual · day · Took effect — Section 2 says the act takes effect immediately. (New Jersey P.L. 2026, chapter 9)

Projects or designs named by the source

None. Location in this jurisdiction does not make a project eligible for, or approved under, this measure.

Sources

New Jersey P.L. 2026, chapter 9 (government_primary, accessed 2026-10-04)