Representative Matt Butler presented House Bill 248 during a meeting of the Alabama House Committee on Economic Development and Tourism and the committee called a public hearing on the bill. Committee members and two registered supporters discussed geoengineering, weather modification and related public-health and regulatory questions; the committee did not vote on HB 248 and will carry the bill to the next meeting.

Butler described the bill as a prohibition on "the dispersion of items in the atmosphere with the intention of affecting the weather," and said the substitute before the committee adds procedures for citizen reporting, creates an "Alabama air pollution control fund" and would impose misdemeanor penalties and fines of up to $100,000 for intentional dispersion into the atmosphere for weather modification. He said the bill incorporated some refinements requested during drafting, but also acknowledged open questions about scope and implementation.

Two supporters spoke during the public comment period. Sherry Saunders described stratospheric aerosol injection and said, "Stratospheric aerosol injection is a solar radiation management geoengineering or climate engineering approach that uses tiny reflective particles or aerosols to reflect sunlight into space in order to cool the planet and reverse or stop global warming." She also told the committee she believes heavy metals such as aluminum are present in soils and said that federal funding has supported related activities; Saunders urged Alabama to act.

Stephanie Jarnin, director of Health Freedom Alabama, told the committee she supports HB 248 and cited a February 2013 Congressional Research Service report on solar radiation management and a February 2022 White House research initiative exploring solar engineering. Jarnin said federal agencies such as NOAA and the Department of Energy have acknowledged weather-modification experiments and that some states are considering legislation; she said Tennessee has already passed a related law and that about two dozen states had considered similar measures.

Committee members asked technical questions about distinctions between contrails and intentional dispersions, whether snowmaking for ski resorts would be affected, and whether the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) had been consulted. Butler said he had not spoken with ADEM and that some definitions in the draft could be amended to avoid unintentionally criminalizing local snowmaking or agricultural spraying. Members warned the committee that a reporting website could be swamped with complaints if citizens submitted non-actionable observations and pressed for further technical detail.

Decision and next steps: the committee called the public hearing and did not vote on HB 248; the chair said the bill will be carried over to the next meeting for further consideration and technical refinement.