H.R. 7452: Air Quality Act

This bill, known as the Air Quality Act, aims to prohibit any form of weather modification in the United States. It establishes strict penalties for individuals and entities that knowingly engage in weather modification activities, which include practices like cloud seeding, geoengineering, and any injection or release of substances intended to alter weather, climate, or atmospheric conditions.

Key Provisions

Prohibition of Weather Modification

The main focus of the bill is to make it illegal to conduct weather modification in various circumstances, particularly if it involves interstate or foreign commerce. This includes any action that:

• Uses channels of interstate commerce to facilitate the weather modification.
• Transmits related communications across state lines.
• Occurs within U.S. territories or jurisdictions.

Those who violate this prohibition may face severe penalties, including:

• Criminal penalties of fines up to $100,000 and imprisonment for up to five years.
• Civil penalties imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of up to $10,000 for each violation.
• Repeat violations will be counted separately.
• Corporate officers may also be held liable for violations by their organization.

Reporting and Investigation

The bill requires the establishment of systems to report suspected violations:

• The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will create a reporting system for air carriers to log aircraft involved in weather modification.
• The EPA will set up a public reporting system to collect citizen complaints regarding suspected violations.
• The EPA is also tasked with investigating suspected violations reported through these systems and will coordinate with various federal agencies to assess any claims.

If a violation is determined to have occurred, the EPA will refer the matter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for legal action.

Repeal of Existing Authorities

The bill repeals any existing federal laws or regulations that allow or require weather modification activities, nullifying any permits or permissions previously granted for such actions.

Prohibition on Research and Experimentation

Additionally, the bill disallows any federal department or agency, or recipients of federal funding, from conducting research or experiments on weather modification. This means that any scientific activities related to altering weather patterns would be banned under this legislation.

Definitions

The legislation provides specific definitions for terms such as:

• Weather modification: Defined as any action that alters the atmosphere through the release of chemicals, biological agents, or pollutants.
• Cloud seeding: A specific type of weather modification aimed at affecting precipitation.
• Geoengineering: Refers to large-scale interventions to combat climate change by manipulating the Earth's climate system.

Effective Date

The provisions of this Act would take effect 90 days after it is enacted into law.

Relevant Companies

None found