Regulatory Oversight committee gives SB1432 due pass recommendation to ban solar radiation management in Arizona

The Arizona Legislature Committee on Regulatory Oversight on a special meeting gave Senate Bill 1432 a due pass recommendation, voting 3-2 to advance a proposal that would prohibit intentionally injecting, releasing or dispensing chemical compounds, substances or apparatus within Arizona to perform solar radiation management.

Staff described the bill at the start of the meeting. A staff member said, “Senate bill 1432 prohibits a person from intentionally injecting, releasing, or dispensing any chemical compounds, substance, or apparatus within Arizona's border with the express purpose of solar radiation management.” The staff member added the bill’s definition of solar radiation management includes “the injection of stratospheric aerosols that increase atmospheric reflectivity or decrease the intensity of sunlight.”

Supporters who testified urged passage on health, environmental and transparency grounds. Laurel Adrian, a resident of Legislative District 3, said she began noticing a persistent thin gray haze in the sky in 2021 and cited federal guidance in urging lawmakers to act: “The deployment of chemical aerosols could have substantial risks in unintended and unexpected consequences, such as severe cooling rates beyond the adaptive capacity of ecosystems, agricultural production, and carbon cycle,” she said, paraphrasing a 2024 NOAA science fact sheet. “Solar radiation modification is the most dangerous thing happening to our planet today.”

Jody Brackett said the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee and other expert bodies have warned about potential environmental harms and that transparency and oversight are lacking. Caroline Kohler read reporting on foreign and domestic testing and warned about private actors deploying experiments without public notice. Dr. Joel Colley, a practicing physician, said certain elemental materials discussed as candidates for stratospheric injection “are extremely dangerous to humans and have not been tested coming from above.” David Demask, a retired nurse anesthetist, cited a federal contrail research roadmap and the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s budget as part of his testimony about the scope of federal atmospheric research funding and called for a state prohibition in the absence of safety data.

Committee members spoke briefly before the roll call. One representative noted frustration that public concern is sometimes dismissed as conspiracy and said mainstream media reporting and recent experiments warrant caution; that representative voted aye. The chairman said he was “concerned” by testing in other states and also voted aye. After roll call, the clerk announced the committee’s action: “By your vote of 3 ayes, 2 nays, 0 not present, 0 not voting, you’ve given SB1432 a due pass recommendation.”

No formal amendments or conditions were recorded in the transcript. The chairman said the bill was double-assigned and expressed hope it would be scheduled in the next committee, naming a committee chair cited during discussion.

Why it matters: backers told the panel they fear stratospheric aerosol injection and other solar radiation modification techniques could harm ecosystems, agriculture and human health and that existing research and oversight are incomplete. The bill would make it a state-level prohibition to carry out those activities within Arizona’s borders pending further legislative action.

Next steps: with the due pass recommendation, SB1432 will be referred to the next assigned committee for further consideration and possible floor action if it advances.