[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7452 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7452
To prohibit weather modification within the United States, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 9, 2026
Mr. Steube introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on
Transportation and Infrastructure, and Science, Space, and Technology,
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit weather modification within the United States, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Air Quality Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF WEATHER MODIFICATION.
(a) In General.--Whoever, in any circumstance described in
subsection (b), knowingly authorizes or conducts weather modification
in the United States shall be subject to the penalties described in
subsection (c).
(b) Circumstances Described.--For the purposes of subsection (a),
the circumstances described in this subsection are that--
(1) the defendant traveled in interstate or foreign
commerce, or traveled using a means, channel, facility, or
instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce, in
furtherance of or in connection with the conduct described in
subsection (a);
(2) the defendant used a means, channel, facility, or
instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in
furtherance of or in connection with the conduct described in
subsection (a);
(3) the defendant transmitted in interstate or foreign
commerce any communication relating to or in furtherance of the
conduct described in subsection (a) using any means, channel,
facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce
or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce by any means
or in any manner, including by computer, mail, wire, or
electromagnetic transmission;
(4) the conduct described in subsection (a) occurred within
the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United
States, the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States,
or any territory or possession of the United States; or
(5) the conduct described in subsection (a) otherwise
occurred in or affected interstate or foreign commerce.
(c) Penalties.--
(1) Criminal penalty.--Whoever violates subsection (a)
shall be fined not more than $100,000 for each violation,
imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
(2) Civil penalty.--The Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency may, in coordination with the Administrator
of the Federal Aviation Administration, impose a civil penalty
of not more than $10,000 for each violation of subsection (a),
in addition to any other penalties provided by law.
(3) Repeat violations.--Each instance of injection,
release, emission, or dispersal under subsection (a) shall
constitute a separate violation of such section.
(4) Liability of officers and agents.--In the case of a
violation of subsection (a) by a public or private entity, the
entity and any officer, director, or employee of the entity who
knowingly authorizes a violation of, or violates, subsection
(a) shall be subject to the penalties under this section.
SEC. 3. REPORTING AND INVESTIGATION.
(a) Aircraft Reporting.--
(1) Establishment of system.--The Administrator of the
Federal Aviation Administration shall establish a system for
air carriers to report the location and movement of any
aircraft equipped with any component, device, or the like which
may be used to support weather modification.
(2) Submission of reports.--Such system may collect reports
via telephone, email, mail, or an online portal.
(3) Publication of reports.--The Administrator of the
Federal Aviation Administration shall make publicly available
on the website of the Federal Aviation Administration any
reports collected by such system under this subsection.
(b) Public Reporting.--
(1) Establishment of system.--The Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and the
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, shall establish a system for the public to
report suspected violations of section 2.
(2) Submission of reports.--Such system may collect reports
via telephone, email, mail, or an online portal.
(3) Publication of reports.--The Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency shall make publicly available
on the website of the Environmental Protection Agency any
reports collected by such system under this subsection.
(c) Investigation.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency shall investigate suspected violations of
section 2 reported pursuant to subsection (b) that the
Administrator determines warrant further review.
(2) Determination.--
(A) Requirement.--For any suspected violation
investigated under paragraph (1), the Administrator
shall determine whether a violation of section 2 has
occurred.
(B) Coordination.--In determining whether a
violation of section 2 occurred, the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency may coordinate with
the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the
Interior, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration, the Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Administrator
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
or the head of any other Federal agency that the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
determines to be relevant, to verify the nature of any
activities described in a report submitted pursuant to
subsection (b).
(d) Referral to DOJ.--The Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency shall refer a suspected violation that the
Administrator determines to have occurred under subsection (c)(2) to
the Attorney General of the United States for further action.
SEC. 4. REPEAL OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES.
(a) Federal Statutes.--Any provision of a Federal statute
authorizing or requiring weather modification, including a licensing
requirement or permit for any such weather modification, is hereby
repealed.
(b) Federal Regulations or Executive Orders.--Any provision of a
Federal regulation or Executive order authorizing or requiring weather
modification, including a licensing requirement or permit for any such
weather modification, is hereby nullified and shall have no force or
effect.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTATION.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal department
or agency, or any recipient of Federal funds, may authorize or conduct
any research, testing, or experimentation that constitutes weather
modification in the United States, including the territories and
possessions of the United States.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Air carrier.--The term ``air carrier'' has the meaning
given such term in section 40102 of title 49, United States
Code.
(2) Air pollutant.--The term ``air pollutant'' has the
meaning given such term in section 302(g) of the Clean Air Act
(42 U.S.C. 7602(g)).
(3) Apparatus.--The term ``apparatus'' means a device,
instrument, or system.
(4) Atmosphere.--The term ``atmosphere'' means the gaseous
envelope surrounding the Earth, including all airspace within
the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
(5) Biological agent.--The term ``biological agent'' has
the meaning given such term in section 178 of title 18, United
States Code.
(6) Chemical substance.--The term ``chemical substance''
has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Toxic
Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2602).
(7) Cloud seeding.--The term ``cloud seeding'' means the
act of altering the processes of a cloud or storm by releasing
a substance into the air.
(8) Geoengineering.--The term ``geoengineering'' means a
technological intervention aimed at mitigating the effects of
lowering the temperature of, or removing certain gases from,
the atmosphere.
(9) Marine cloud brightening.--The term ``marine cloud
brightening'' means a strategy for adding aerosol to the lower
atmosphere over ocean regions to increase the reflectivity of
clouds.
(10) Stratospheric aerosol injection.--The term
``stratospheric aerosol injection'' means a strategy for
increasing the number of small reflective aerosols in the
stratosphere to increase the reflection of incoming sunlight.
(11) Weather modification.--
(A) In general.--The term ``weather modification''
means any injection, release, emission, or dispersal of
a chemical substance, a biological agent, or an air
pollutant, or conveyance of an apparatus, into the
atmosphere that--
(i) produces a change in the composition or
behavior of the atmosphere; or
(ii) affects the temperature, weather,
climate, or intensity of sunlight.
(B) Examples.--Such term includes--
(i) geoengineering;
(ii) cloud seeding;
(iii) solar radiation modification and
management;
(iv) stratospheric aerosol injection; and
(v) marine cloud brightening.
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect 90 days after the date of enactment of
this Act.
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