Relating to: honoring the life and public service of Assembly Chief Clerk Patrick Fuller.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Scott Allen and 41 co-sponsors

Nonbinding A.J.R.12 urges federal solar siting on Nevada public lands to target previously disturbed lands and coordinate with state/local authorities.

Not published. Enrolled Joint Resolution 5

Summary — A.J.R. 12 (2025)

Title: Declares support of the Legislature for certain principles of solar energy development in this State. (BDR R‑388)
Type: Assembly Joint Resolution
Introduced: March 13, 2025 (printed May 14, 2025)
Sponsor/Committee: Committee on Natural Resources (on behalf of Joint Interim Standing Committee on Natural Resources)
Final status: Enrolled and filed with Secretary of State Sept. 10, 2025; Chaptered as Res. Chapter 177, Statutes of 2025.

Purpose

A.J.R. 12 is a non‑binding joint resolution in which the Nevada Legislature formally declares support for two guiding principles for federal solar energy development on public lands in Nevada. It urges the Federal Government and relevant federal agencies to recognize and apply those principles when siting utility‑scale solar projects on federal lands.

Key provisions

The resolution:
1. Urges that solar development on public lands be concentrated on “previously disturbed” lands, defined to include areas with heavy anthropogenic disturbance or lands dominated by invasive annual plants with no realistic pathway back to a native plant community.
2. Urges that siting of solar on public lands be identified through consultation and coordination with relevant state and local governmental agencies.

The resolution also directs the Chief Clerk of the Assembly to transmit copies to the President, Vice President, Congressional leadership, multiple federal agency heads (Interior, Agriculture, BLM, U.S. Forest Service, NPS, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish & Wildlife Service, DOD), Nevada’s U.S. Congressional delegation and the Governor. It becomes effective upon passage.

Context and impact

Background data cited: national solar capacity forecast to grow 75% from 2023–2025; the BLM’s proposed updated Western Solar Plan would make over 31 million acres across 11 western states available for potential solar development.

Nevada facts cited: the Federal Government owns over 56 million acres in Nevada (>80% of the State); BLM manages over 47 million acres; nearly one‑fifth of Nevada’s public lands could be open under the proposed plan.

Effects: The resolution is declaratory and advisory — it does not change state or federal law or create regulatory requirements. Its primary impact is political and communicative: signaling Nevada’s priorities to federal land managers and encouraging coordination with state and local entities.

Fiscal note: No effect on the State or local governments.

Procedural highlights

Read and referred to committee March–May 2025; withdrawn from Legislative Operations committee and placed on Chief Clerk’s desk March 25, 2025.

Passed both chambers unanimously (examples: Assembly 74–0; Senate 40–0 on recorded steps) in July–September 2025.

Enrolled and chaptered Sept. 10, 2025 (Res. Chapter 177).