The proposed installation of solar panels within an area of freshwater wetlands or associated transition areas would require approval from the Division of Land Use Regulation in accordance with the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act Rules at N.J.A.C. 7:7A. Further information for determining the presence of wetlands and the width of the associated transition area on a particular site can be found in the ‘Freshwater Wetlands’ section of the website and in the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act Rules (N.J.A.C. 7:7A.pdf).

The installation of solar panels resulting in the disturbance of freshwater wetlands and associated transition area will require a Freshwater Wetlands Individual Permit. The requirements for a Freshwater Wetlands Individual Permit can be found in the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act Rules (N.J.A.C. 7:7A) under Subchapter 7 – Individual Freshwater Wetlands and Open Water Fill Permits (N.J.A.C. 7:7A-7).

If the installation of solar panels will result in disturbance to transition areas only, then a Transition Area Waiver may be obtained for the project. Information about the available Transition Area Waivers can be found in the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act Rules (N.J.A.C. 7:7A) under Subchapter 6 – Transition Area Waivers (N.J.A.C. 7:7A-6).

The installation of solar panels not requiring a CAFRA or Waterfront Development permit as described below and constructed in a flood hazard area or riparian zone of a regulated water will require a flood hazard area permit issued in accordance with the Flood Hazard Area Control Act Rules at N.J.A.C. 7:13. For more information on determining the flood hazard area or width of a riparian zone, please refer to the “Streams and Rivers” section of the website and N.J.A.C. 7:13-3.1.

Authorization may be granted under permit-by-rule, general permit-by-certification, or individual permit.

Permit-by-rule 30 at N.J.A.C. 7:13-7.30 authorizes the installation of solar panels and associated equipment. Under this permit, no panels are allowed within the floodway, the existing ground elevation may not be raised in the floodway or fluvial flood hazard area, and ballast or concrete foundations to support the panels are not permitted Additionally, riparian zone disturbance must be limited to previously disturbed areas and no disturbance may be located within 25 feet of any top of bank, unless it is adjacent to a lawfully existing bulkhead, retaining wall, or revetment along a tidal or impounded fluvial water.

General permit-by-certification 13 at N.J.A.C. 7:13-8.13 also authorizes the placement of solar panels and associated equipment. The requirements of this permit are similar to the requirements of permit-by-rule 30, except that this permit allows up to one-quarter acre of riparian zone vegetation to be cleared, cut, or removed.

If the proposed solar panel installation does not qualify for a permit-by-rule or general permit-by-certification, then it may be authorized under a flood hazard area individual permit, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:13-10, 11, and 12. A verification pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:13-5 may also be required.

Per the Coastal Zone Management rules at N.J.A.C. 7:7, a solar panel is an elevated panel or plate, or a canopy or array thereof, that captures and converts solar radiation to produce power, and includes flat plate, focusing solar collectors, or photovoltaic solar cells and excludes the base or foundation of the panel, plate, canopy, or array. Solar panel projects are considered industrial development pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management rules and may require a permit. The solar panel project’s location will dictate whether a permit is required and the type of permit required. If the proposed solar panel project does not qualify for the below described exemptions or Permit-by-rule, a CAFRA, Coastal Wetlands, and/or Waterfront Development Individual Permit may be required.

Potentially applicable Exemptions:

Per N.J.A.C. 7:7-2.2(b)13, the installation of a solar panel(s) within CAFRA jurisdiction is not considered development which requires a CAFRA permit, provided the solar panel(s):

• Is on or structurally attached to a legally existing building, a utility pole (electric, telephone, cable and lighting) within a maintained utility right-of-way, a parking lot light pole; or
• Is on legally existing non-porous cover unless the solar panel is located in a floodway; or
• Is on a sanitary landfill provided the solar panel is included in the Closure and Post-Closure Care Plan or modified plan as approved by the Department in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:26.

Per N.J.A.C.7:7-2.4(d)5, the installation of a solar panel(s) within Upland Waterfront Development jurisdiction is not considered development which requires an Upland Waterfront Development permit, provided the solar panel(s):

• Is on or structurally attached to a legally existing building, a utility pole (electric, telephone, cable and lighting) within a maintained utility right-of-way, a parking lot light pole; or
• Is on legally existing non-porous cover unless the solar panel is located in a floodway; or
• Is on a sanitary landfill provided the solar panel is included in the Closure and Post-Closure

Care Plan or modified plan as approved by the Department in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:26.

Potentially applicable Permit-by-rule (PBR):

PBR 13 – authorizes the installation of solar panels on a maintained lawn or landscaped area at a single-family home or duplex lot, provided:

• The solar panel development shall not be located in or on dunes, beaches, wetlands, floodways, or coastal bluffs;
• The solar panel development shall be setback a minimum of 50’ from the inland limit of any wetlands, beach, or dune;
• The maintained lawn or landscaped area is not subject to a previous coastal permit requirement that it remain as vegetative cover; and
• The solar panel development shall not be located within an area mapped as threatened or endangered species habitat on the Department’s Landscape Maps of Habitat for Endangered, Threatened and Other Priority Wildlife (Landscape Maps), except as provided below. The Landscape Maps are available on the Department’s interactive mapping website at https://www.nj.gov/dep/gis;

• • The solar panel(s) is located within 120’ of an existing building on an actively maintained lawn or area of land that has been manipulated by contouring of the soil and/or by intentional planting of flowers, grasses, shrubs, trees or other ornamental vegetation, which is maintained in such a condition by regular and frequent (at least one time per year) cutting, mowing, pruning, planting, weeding or mulching; or
  • The solar panel(s) is located on legally existing non-porous cover.

Please see N.J.A.C. 7:7-4.13 for complete rule requirements.

Tidelands, also known as riparian lands, are all those lands now or formerly flowed by the mean high tide of a natural waterway; that is to say any land that is currently or was previously covered by tidal waters. The State of New Jersey, and therefore the people of New Jersey, owns all Tidelands except for those to which it has already sold its interest in the form of a riparian grant. It is important to note that the State generally does not own artificial waterways such as lagoons however, the State does claim those lands within a lagoon that were flowed by the mean high tide of a natural waterway which existed prior to the creation of the lagoon.

Solar panels that are proposed in a tidelands area may require a tidelands license if the activities are taking place at or below the mean high water line of a tidal waterway or a tidelands grant if the activities are taking place in an area that is currently landward of the mean high water line but was, at some point, flowed by the tide.

A tidelands license is a short term revocable rental document to use tidelands generally for structures such as docks, bulkhead extensions, mooring piles, and other temporary structures as well as for dredging projects. Licenses are project specific and expire after a finite term ranging from one to ten years. Most licenses may be renewed.