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Committee advances bill to ban high-altitude chemical dispersal, allows limited low-altitude exceptions
Summary
The Senate Committee on Environmental Quality on April 22 advanced Senate Bill 46 to prohibit intentional chemical releases into Louisiana airspace above 1,000 feet, with exceptions for firefighting and certain agricultural applications and a provision allowing DEQ to use Air National Guard surveillance.
The Senate Committee on Environmental Quality moved Senate Bill 46 favorably on April 22, 2025. The bill would prohibit the intentional release or dispersion of chemicals into the state's atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature at altitudes above 1,000 feet above ground level.
Senator Fessy, the bill sponsor, told the committee that the measure "strictly prohibits any spraying of chemicals above a thousand feet into our atmosphere" and said it is intended to address concerns about cloud seeding and broader geoengineering activity. The committee adopted an amendment that specifies the prohibition does not apply to application of firefighting chemicals or agricultural applications below 1,000 feet and authorizes the Department of Environmental Quality to "utilize information and surveillance capabilities from the Air National Guard," language read into the record by committee staff.
Public testimony in favor included Jill Hines, co-director of Health Freedom Louisiana, who told the committee that aerial releases of particulates such as "silver iodide, barium, aluminum, and other particulates" intended to influence precipitation, cloud formation or temperature are conducted with "minimal oversight and virtually no public input" and urged support for the bill. Several supporters filed witness cards but did not speak; the Louisiana Landowners Association filed opposition but did not request to speak.
Committee members questioned how the bill would interact with existing licensing for weather modification. A member noted current law provides for issuance of a weather-modification license; the sponsor and other members agreed the bill, as drafted, would remove the state's ability to issue such licenses for activities that fall within the new prohibition. The record does not include a roll-call vote; the chair reported the bill "will be reported favorably" after a voice approval with "no opposition" recorded.
The bill advances to the full Senate. The committee record shows the amendment was adopted without objection; specifics of enforcement mechanisms and any criminal or civil penalties were not specified in the hearing record.
