Bill
HB 362
HB 362 bans intentional atmospheric modification in NC, including SAI, cloud seeding, and RF/microwave emissions; EMC to adopt implementing rules.
Status and procedural posture
- Bill number: HB 362 — "Clean Skies Geoengineering Ban"
- Sponsor(s): Rep. David (or Representative) Almond (primary sponsors also listed elsewhere as McNeely and Pike)
- Status: Passed first reading; referred to Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (calendar entry 12 Mar 2025).
- Effective date: The bill states it is effective when it becomes law.
Purpose and intent
- The bill seeks to prohibit intentional, state‑level atmospheric modification activities that release polluting agents or use certain technologies to alter temperature, weather, or sunlight intensity within North Carolina. It is framed as protecting the environment, public health, agriculture, aviation, and state security from geoengineering and related interventions.
Key substantive provisions
1. New defined term (amendment to G.S. 143‑213)
- Introduces a definition of “atmospheric modification” that explicitly includes:
- Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI)
- Cloud seeding
- Electromagnetic radio‑frequency or microwave radiation emissions
- Other atmospheric polluting activities that affect temperature, weather, sunlight intensity, the environment, agriculture, wildlife, human health and safety, aviation, state security, or the State economy
- Explicit exclusion: aerial application of pesticides under a valid Pesticide Board license is not considered “atmospheric modification” for this purpose.
Prohibition (amendment to G.S. 143‑215.108(a))
Rulemaking and implementation
Who would be affected
- Entities likely affected include:
- Private companies and contractors offering cloud seeding or other weather‑modification services
- Universities and research programs proposing atmospheric intervention experiments within state boundaries
- Local or state agencies/authorities contemplating weather‑modification projects
- Aviation operators and any projects using aircraft for atmospheric dispersal
- Indirectly affected: agricultural stakeholders, environmental and public‑health advocates, and emergency planners (depending on whether any activities previously used for drought mitigation, wildfire suppression, or agricultural purposes fall within the prohibition).
Enforcement, penalties, and gaps
- The bill adds the prohibition and directs EMC to promulgate implementing rules. The statutory text does not itself specify criminal or civil penalties tied uniquely to this provision; enforcement mechanism(s) and any penalties would depend on existing statutory enforcement provisions and rules the EMC adopts.
- The statutory language focuses on acts done “with the intentional or sole purpose” of atmospheric modification — this may leave questions about mixed‑purpose activities or research that has both academic and practical aims.
Potential impacts and issues to consider
- Public‑policy effects: would curtail state‑based cloud‑seeding and SAI projects within North Carolina, and could limit in‑state experimental research unless exemptions or permit frameworks are later adopted by EMC.
- Regulatory scope: the definition covers electromagnetic emissions (RF/microwave) as well as chemical dispersals, broadening the scope beyond conventional cloud‑seeding.
- Interplay with federal authority: activities that are federal (e.g., military, FAA‑regulated flights) or interstate in nature may raise jurisdictional questions.
- Rulemaking will be critical to clarify scope, exemptions, permitting (if any), enforcement mechanisms, and coordination with federal authorities.
Bottom line
HB 362 would make intentional geoengineering and similar atmospheric‑modification activities within North Carolina unlawful, defines the covered activities broadly (SAI, cloud seeding, RF/microwave emissions), and tasks the Environmental Management Commission with adopting rules to implement the ban.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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