Sponsors (4)
This bill prioritizes preventing potentially harmful or unregulated weather-modification and strengthens federal enforcement and public transparency, but does so by broad prohibitions and definitions that risk chilling benign research, imposing costs and legal uncertainty on governments and industry, and limiting federal tools for emergency response.
Residents nationwide (urban and rural) are less likely to be exposed to potentially harmful or unregulated weather-modification activities that could degrade air or water quality or alter local precipitation.
Creates a federal enforcement and investigation pathway (criminal penalties, civil fines, EPA investigations, DOJ referrals) to deter interstate weather-modification and hold actors accountable.
Allows public reporting of suspected weather-modification activity and requires FAA publication of carrier reports, increasing transparency and interagency coordination (EPA, FAA, NOAA, USDA, DOI, NASA) for investigations.
Scientists, researchers, utilities, and other operators could face criminal penalties or lose federal authorization/funding, chilling benign research and delaying development of storm-mitigation and climate-response technologies.
Broad statutory definitions and commerce/interstate triggers may unintentionally sweep in benign activities (e.g., cloud seeding, certain aviation operations), creating legal uncertainty and compliance costs for local governments, businesses, and air carriers.
State and local emergency managers, utilities, and communities may lose access to federally authorized tools or programs for limited weather interventions during droughts, wildfires, or other climate emergencies, potentially increasing damages and recovery costs.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Criminalizes weather modification in the U.S., repeals federal authorization for it, bans federally funded research, and creates reporting and enforcement systems.
Introduced February 9, 2026 by W. Greg Steube · Last progress February 9, 2026
Makes weather modification in the United States a federal crime, repeals federal authority to authorize such activities, bans government-funded weather-modification research, and creates public reporting and investigation systems overseen by the FAA and EPA. It establishes criminal fines and prison terms, civil penalties, broad definitions that cover geoengineering and cloud-seeding techniques, and takes effect 90 days after enactment.