SB 508 — An Act prohibiting solar radiation modification or sunlight reflection methods, cloud seeding and polluting atmospheric interventions within this Commonwealth; imposing duties on the Pennsylvania State Police and sheriffs; and imposing penalties.

PRINTER'S NO.   469

                   THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                         SENATE BILL
                         No. 508
                                               Session of
                                                 2025

     INTRODUCED BY MASTRIANO AND BARTOLOTTA, MARCH 21, 2025

     REFERRED TO AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS, MARCH 21, 2025


                                    AN ACT
 1   Prohibiting solar radiation modification or sunlight reflection
 2      methods, cloud seeding and polluting atmospheric
 3      interventions within this Commonwealth; imposing duties on
 4      the Pennsylvania State Police and sheriffs; and imposing
 5      penalties.
 6      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 7   hereby enacts as follows:
 8   Section 1.   Short title.
 9      This act shall be known and may be cited as the Clean Air
10   Preservation Act.
11   Section 2.   Definitions.
12      The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
13   have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
14   context clearly indicates otherwise:
15      "Air National Guard."    The Pennsylvania Air National Guard, a
16   reserve component of the United States Air Force.
17      "Artificial intelligence" or "AI."   A field of science and
18   technology encompassing systems and tools that can perform tasks
19   typically requiring human intelligence such as learning,
20   reasoning, pattern recognition and decision making, often
 1   through computational techniques like machine learning and
 2   neural networks.
 3      "Cloud seeding."     A type of weather engineering or
 4   experimentation that may change the amount or type of
 5   precipitation by dispersing chemicals such as dry ice, silver
 6   iodide or trimethylaluminum into the atmosphere by means of
 7   aircraft or ground generators.
 8      "Entity."    Any of the following:
 9          (1)     Individual.
10          (2)     Trust.
11          (3)     Firm.
12          (4)     Joint stock company.
13          (5)     Corporation, including a quasi-governmental
14      corporation.
15          (6)     Nongovernmental organization.
16          (7)     Partnership.
17          (8)     Association.
18          (9)     Syndicate.
19          (10)     Municipality or municipal agency.
20          (11)     Program.
21          (12)     Fire district.
22          (13)     Club.
23          (14)     Nonprofit agency.
24          (15)     Commission.
25          (16)     University, college or academic institution.
26          (17)     Department or agency of this Commonwealth.
27          (18)     The Federal Government or any interstate or
28      international governance or instrumentality thereof,
29      including foreign, domestic and mercenary armed services or
30      region within the United States.

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 1          (19)   Artificial intelligence.
 2      "Hazardous."    A substance or physical agent by its nature
 3   that is harmful to living organisms generally or to property or
 4   another interest of value.
 5      "Intervention."   The act of interfering with weather
 6   processes, altering atmospheric or environmental conditions or
 7   releasing pollutants by methods, including, but not limited to,
 8   solar radiation modification or sunlight reflection methods,
 9   stratospheric aerosol injection, marine cloud brightening,
10   cirrus cloud thinning, weather modification, cloud seeding or
11   outdoor pollution dispersion modeling.
12      "Machine learning."   The process in which a machine can learn
13   on its own without being explicitly programmed.
14      "Physical agent."   An agent, other than a substance,
15   including, without limitation, RF/MW and other electromagnetic
16   radiation and fields, barometric pressure, temperature, gravity,
17   kinetic weaponry, mechanical vibration and sound.
18      "Pollutant."    Any of the following:
19          (1)    An aerosol, biologic, trans-biologic, genetically
20      modified agent, chaff, metal, radioactive material, acid,
21      alkali, chemical, chemical compound, contaminant,
22      microelectronic mechanical system, smart dust, smoke, soot,
23      substance, fume, vapor or air pollutant regulated by the
24      Commonwealth.
25          (2)    A mechanical vibration, physical agent, particulate
26      or waste, including materials that may be recycled,
27      reconditioned or reclaimed.
28          (3)    A solid, liquid, gaseous or thermal irritant.
29          (4)    An artificially produced electric field, magnetic
30      field, electromagnetic field, electromagnetic pulse, sound

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 1      wave, sound pollution, light pollution, microwave or ionizing
 2      or nonionizing radiation.
 3      "Polluting atmospheric intervention."   An experiment or
 4   intervention involving the release of pollutants, conducted by
 5   any iteration of human, machine learning or artificial
 6   intelligence, or any combination of human, machine learning or
 7   artificial intelligence, that occurs in the atmosphere and may
 8   have harmful consequences upon health, the environment or
 9   agriculture.
10      "Pollution."   The discharge, dispersal, deposition, release,
11   seepage, migration or escape of pollutants.
12      "Release."   Any activity that results in the issuance of
13   contaminants such as the emitting, transmitting, discharging or
14   injecting of one or more nuclear, biological, trans-biological,
15   chemical or physical agents into the ambient atmosphere, whether
16   once, intermittently or continuously.
17      "Sheriff."   A Pennsylvania sheriff, the Constitutional
18   officers responsible for county law enforcement.
19      "Solar radiation modification" or "sunlight reflection
20   method."   An experiment in the Earth's climatic system involving
21   the release of pollutants that reduces the amount of sunlight
22   reaching the Earth's surface. The term includes the use of
23   interoperable, ground-based, airborne and space-based
24   facilities.
25      "Weather engineering."   The deliberate manipulation of the
26   environment for purposes that include changing the weather or
27   climate by artificial means, typically involving the release of
28   pollutants into the atmosphere via cloud seeding, for small-
29   scale, large-scale and global-scale alteration of the
30   environment.

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 1        "Weather modification."   Changing, controlling or interfering
 2   with or attempting to alter, change, control or interfere with
 3   the natural development of cloud forms, precipitation,
 4   barometric pressure, temperature, conductivity or other
 5   electromagnetic or sonic characteristics of the atmosphere.
 6   Section 3.    Prohibited activity.
 7        The Pennsylvania State Police or a sheriff shall immediately
 8   issue a cease-and-desist order when cloud seeding or polluting
 9   atmospheric intervention is suspected. The cease-and-desist
10   order under this section shall have the weight of a court order
11   and any violation shall be punished in accordance with section
12   5.
13   Section 4.    Notice to cease Federal or foreign-approved
14                 programs.
15        (a)   Notice.--Government and armed forces projects must meet
16   all the requirements of this act. If an activity deemed
17   hazardous by this act has been approved, explicitly or
18   implicitly, by the Federal Government, the Pennsylvania State
19   Police or a sheriff shall issue a notice to the appropriate
20   Federal agency that the activity cannot lawfully be carried out
21   within or over this Commonwealth.
22        (b)   Implementation.--The Pennsylvania State Police or a
23   sheriff is authorized to and shall implement this act,
24   determining whether violations have occurred and, if deemed
25   necessary, shall refer potentially prohibited activity to the
26   Air National Guard.
27   Section 5.    Penalties and enforcement.
28        An entity that engages in a polluting atmospheric
29   intervention or uses an unmarked or unidentified aircraft or
30   other vehicle or facility to carry out a weather engineering or

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 1   a polluting atmospheric intervention shall:
 2          (1)   Have committed a felony and shall pay a fine of not
 3      less than $500,000 or be imprisoned for not less than two
 4      years, or both.
 5          (2)   Be guilty of a separate offense for each day during
 6      which prohibited activity has been conducted, repeated or
 7      continued.
 8          (3)   Be deemed in violation and subject to any further
 9      penalties of the act of January 8, 1960 (1959 P.L.2119,
10      No.787), known as the Air Pollution Control Act.
11   Section 6.   Effective date.
12      This act shall take effect immediately.




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