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Senate clears bill to prohibit intentional release of chemicals into Louisiana air for weather modification
Summary
The Senate passed SB46 to ban intentional release of certain chemicals or aerosols into the atmosphere for weather modification, with exceptions for firefighting and agriculture and enforcement placed under the Department of Environmental Quality.
The Louisiana Senate on April 28 advanced legislation, Senate Bill 46, that prohibits the intentional release of specified chemicals into the state’s atmosphere for the purpose of affecting weather or temperature.
Sponsor Senator Frank Fessy told the chamber the bill would prohibit releases of agents such as sulfur dioxide and aluminum oxide when used for geoengineering or cloud seeding, and would place enforcement within the existing authority of the Department of Environmental Quality. “It places the prohibition within the environmental quality act ensuring enforcement under the department of environmental quality is existing authority,” Fessy said.
Senator Fessy said the measure contains “common sense exceptions” for aerial firefighting and agricultural activities and caps application to a thousand feet above ground to avoid interfering with farm operations. He also said the bill authorizes DEQ to use air national guard surveillance resources and repeals outdated weather-modification licensing.
Questioning on the floor focused on who is conducting cloud seeding and whether federal actors are involved. Senator Barrow asked which agencies perform these operations; Fessy said “there’s a multiple agencies” and that funding exists for geoengineering activities. Senator Barrow asked whether the state had data substantiating such operations; Fessy replied there is money being allocated for cloud seeding and geoengineering and that he had consulted Commissioner Strain on altitude limits.
Senators agreed the bill should not affect farmers; Fessy noted discussions with the commissioner to ensure the measure’s exemptions protect agricultural operations.
The Senate adopted SB46; the chamber recorded 38 yeas and 0 nays.
