1. a. Upon application to and approval by the Director of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs, the governing body of a municipality may undertake the financing of the purchase and installation of renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements by property owners as a local improvement and may provide by ordinance for a “clean energy special assessment” to be imposed on a property within the municipality, if the owner of the property requests the assessment in order to install such systems or improvements. Each improvement on an individual property shall constitute a separate local improvement and shall be assessed separately to the property owner benefitted thereby. The clean energy special assessment shall be payable in quarterly installments. The terms of the clean energy special assessment shall be in accordance with the terms of the financing provided by the municipality pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2011, c.187 (C. 40:56-13.1).

b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section to the contrary, the Director of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs shall not accept, and a municipality shall not submit, an application to undertake the financing of the purchase and installation of renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements by property owners as a local improvement pursuant to the provisions of P.L.2011, c.187 (C. 40:56-1.4 et al.) after the date the Economic Development Authority has published on its Internet website all the items pursuant to subsection a. of section 5 of P.L.2021, c.201 (C. 34:1B-378). The Director of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs shall continue to process any application submitted prior to that date, and a municipality shall continue its undertaking approved prior to that date and any undertaking for which an application was pending on that date that is approved on or after that date.

c. All actions taken by the Director of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs or any municipality pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be unaffected by the enactment of P.L.2021, c.201 (C. 34:1B-374 et al.).

L.2011, c.187, s.1; amended 2021, c.201, s.10.