Bill
HB 1514
HB 1514 would criminalize polluting atmospheric activity (cloud seeding, weather engineering) with up to a class C felony and a $500,000 fine, plus rapid reporting and enforcement.
Status
- Introduced: December 4, 2024. Prepared amendments: February 19, 2025.
- Sponsors (ND draft): Reps. Morton, Frelich, Heilman, Kasper, S. Olson, Rohr, Steiner, VanWinkle, Wolff; Sens. Magrum, Powers.
- Legislative outcome: Second reading — failed to pass (yeas 28, nays 63) (Feb 24, 2025). The bill would have created a new chapter in Title 23.1 of the North Dakota Century Code.
Purpose and intent
- To prohibit and criminalize “polluting atmospheric activity,” including various forms of weather modification and atmospheric experimentation the bill deems harmful to humans or the environment (explicitly listing cloud seeding, stratospheric aerosol injection, “weather engineering,” and production of “excessive electromagnetic radiation”).
- To establish reporting, investigation, measurement, and enforcement authorities and procedures for suspected violations.
Key provisions
- New definitions: aircraft (including drones); cloud seeding; stratospheric aerosol injection; weather engineering; xenobiotic (foreign substance to humans/ecosystems); director (Department of Environmental Quality).
- Criminal penalty: Violating the prohibition is a class C felony and subject to a fine up to $500,000.
- Exemption: Does not apply to individuals operating aircraft for aerial application of agricultural chemicals or materials.
- Public reporting: Any person may report suspected atmospheric experimentation or cloud seeding to the county sheriff; the director and sheriffs are to encourage public monitoring and accept evidence (photographs/video with date/time/location, precipitation analyses, spectrometry, microscopy, metering, etc.).
- Investigation and measurement timelines:
- If the director suspects prohibited activity, documentary evidence must be forwarded to the sheriff within 24 hours.
- The director or sheriff must take specified emergency measurements at the reported location within two hours of receiving a report (including measurements for electromagnetic fields/radiation, lasers, ionizing/non‑ionizing radiation, excessive vibration/noise).
- If professional equipment is lacking, state/county may partner with institutions of higher education for scientific analysis and expert testimony.
- Emergency enforcement powers:
- Director or sheriff may issue cease‑and‑desist orders.
- Governor may request the adjutant general to identify and notify owners/operators and may order aircraft releasing emissions to land at the nearest airport for investigation; governor may request the BCI and DEQ studies.
- Xenobiotic/radiation-specific steps: Upon allegation, owners/operators must immediately produce records of detections, cease operations immediately, and verify cessation within 24 hours.
- Electromagnetic thresholds and record requests: The bill directs immediate demand for operational records where certain thresholds are reported, including (as drafted):
- Radio frequency/microwave radiation at any publicly accessible location in excess of −85 dBm (decibel‑milliwatts);
- Extremely low frequency (ELF) electric fields > 1 volt per 25 meters (presented as “one volt per eighty‑two feet”);
- Magnetic fields > 1 milligauss;
- Ionizing radiation > 0.02 millisievert per hour;
- Harmful laser/light, vibration, sonic or other physical agents exceeding building/biological guidance.
(The bill requires operators to deliver records to the director/sheriff within 24 hours and allows immediate cessation orders.)
Who would be affected
- Potentially affected parties include: private operators of aircraft/drones, companies or agencies conducting weather modification or atmospheric research, operators of towers/antennas/telecom infrastructure, utilities, research institutions, and any entity producing reported “xenobiotic” releases or elevated electromagnetic fields. Agricultural aerial applicators are explicitly exempted.
- Law enforcement (county sheriffs, Bureau of Criminal Investigation), Department of Environmental Quality, the Governor’s office/adjutant general, and higher‑education institutions (as technical partners) are given roles under the bill.
Potential implications and considerations
- Broad and detailed enforcement language could encompass a wide range of scientific, commercial, and infrastructure activities (including telecommunications and research). Numeric thresholds and terminology (e.g., “xenobiotic electromagnetism”) are unusual and may require technical clarification.
- The bill emphasizes rapid public reporting and investigative response (2‑hour and 24‑hour timelines), potentially creating operational and resource demands on county and state agencies.
- Because the bill was not passed on second reading, it did not become law in the 69th Assembly.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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