Science, and transportation united states senate

comment often throughout the 6 years of NACOA's existence.

Each of the six NACOA annual reports have contained discussion

and recommendations on weather modification, which was one of the

four major topics covered extensively in the first annual report. 1

NACOA's repeated position has been that there is a need for "a coordi-

nated Federal effort to support the basic research needed to bring

weather modification to the point of being an operational tool resting

on a sound technical base" but that "major gaps remain, largely be-

cause no one agency has the responsibility for identifying and support-

ing those areas of basic study needed for further progress along a

broad front." 2 Specific recommendations of NACOA on the Federal

weather modification program will be discussed in the following chap-

ter of this report on studies and recommendations. 3

Other coordination and advisory mechanisms

Although overall coordination of the Federal weather modification

programs has been an ICAS responsibility, there are other panels

which assist certain agencies in connection with major research proj-

ects, and there have been various workshops on particular problem

areas through which interagency consensus has been achieved. The

NSF Weather Modification Advisory Panel has provided important

guidance to the weather modification research activities of the NSF.

The presence of representatives from both the Bureau of Reclamation

and NOAA, the other agencies with major weather modification pro-

grams, was designed to assure a high level of coordination. The

National Hail Research Experiment (NHRE) Advisory Panel of

the NSF also has had representatives from these two agencies.

Research proposals received by the NSF are reviewed by the Bureau

National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere. A report to the President nnd

the Poncrres^. First annual report. June 30. 1972. Washington, D.C., U.S. Government

Printing Office, p. iv.

1 Ibid., pp. 19-29.

: National Advisory Committee on Oceans nnd Atmosphere, a report to the President and

tt <■ I !ongre88. sixth annual report. June 30, 1977, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Print-

lng Office, p. 76.

See Ch. 6.

229

agencies in the decision process as to whether individual research pro-

posals are to be funded by the NSF. 4

The agencies coordinate directly with each other at the working

level whenever the respective programs may benefit thereby. A close

coordination mechanism was established, for example, between the

National Hail Research Experiment (NHRE) of the NSF and the Bu-

reau of Reclamation's High Plains Cooperative Program (HIPLEX) ,

a useful and practical arrangement in view of the geographical prox-

imity of the two projects in northeastern Colorado and northwestern

Kansas, respectively. 5

During the past few years workshops on various aspects and prob-

lem areas in weather modification have afforded additional oppor-

tunity for coordination. In 1975 the National Science Foundation spon-

sored a symposium/workshop on the suppression of hail as part of its

National Hail Research Experiment. 6 The NSF also sponsored a major

workshop on inadvertent weather modification at Hartford, Conn., in

May 1977. 7 Another recent workshop sponsored by the NSF was

held in August 1977 at Fort Collins. Colo., on extended space and time

effects of planned weather modification activities. 8

Since 1967, the Bureau of Reclamation has conducted nine con-

ferences as part of its "Project Sky water." dealing with various special

topics of particular concern to the projects and to planned weather

modification in general. Some of these Sky water conferences have been

jointly sponsored with other agencies, in particular, the National

Science Foundation, and more recent conferences have been conducted

in a workshop format. Following each conference proceedings have

been published. The first conference was held at Denver, Colo., in 1967,

on the subject of physics and chemistry of nucleation. 9 The most recent

conference was a workshop, held in November 1976, at Vail, Colo.,

on environmental aspects of precipitation management. 10 One day of

this conference was sponsored jointly with the National Science Foun-

dation. A tenth Skywater Conference is a workshop scheduled for

June 1978, at Lake Tahoe, Calif., where the topic will be the Sierra

Cooperative Pilot Project of Skywater. This conference will follow a

meeting at the same place, sponsored jointly by the American Meteoro-

logical Society and the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agri-

culture, on Sierra Nevada mountain meteorology.

Also of interest as a coordination mechanism was the November

1975, Special Regional Weather Modification Conference on Augmen-

4 Eggers. testimony before House Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on

the Environment and the Atmosphere, 1976, p. 110.

5 Ibid., p. 111.

6 National Center for Atmospheric Research, NHRE symposium/workshop on hail and its

suppression, working group reports. Estes Park. Colo.. Sept. 21-28. 1976. "National Hail

Research Experiment." technical report NCAR/7100-75/2, November 1975, 130 pp.

7 Robinson. G. D. (Principal Investigator), inadvertent weather modification workshop.

May 23-27, 1977. Hartford. Conn., final report to the National Science Foundation, under

grant No. ENV-77-10186. "Hartford, the Center for the Environment and Man. Inc.."

November 1977. CEM Report 4215-604. 167 pp.

s Brown. R>ith J.. Robert D. Elliott, and Max Edelstein (editors). "Transactions of

Workshop on Extended Space and Time Effects of Weather Modification." Aug. 8-12, 1977,

Fort Collins. Colo. Goleta, Calif., North American weather consultants, February 1978

(draft), 279 pp.

9 U.S. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. "Phvsics and Cbpmistrv of

Nucleation." proceedings ; Skywater Conference I, Denver. Colo., July 10-12, 1967, Denver.

July 1967. 419 pp.

10 U.S. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. "Precipitation. Man. and the

Environment ; an Overview of Skywatpr IX Conference," second week of November 1976,

Vail, Colo., Denver, September 1977, 223 pp.

r

230

States, sponsored jointly by the American Meteorological Society, the

Department of Water Resources of the State of California, the

Weather Modification Association, and the Bureau of Reclamation. 11

In connection with Project Sky water, the Bureau of Reclamation

has established a number of advisory boards and panels from time to

time as the need has arisen. These groups have been composed of both

Government and non-Government experts. In connection with the

High Plains Cooperative Project (HIPLEX) , the Bureau of Reclama-

tion has also established citizens* panels to advise on local problems;

these groups have included local government officials among other indi-

viduals. Similar local advisory groups have been planned for the Sierra

Cooperative Pilot Project and are now being organized.

Another means of coordination is provided through the joint spon-

sorship of some Federal research efforts. For example, the weather

modification simulation laboratory at the Colorado State University,

funded through the National Science Foundation by three Federal

agencies, is a facility used in support of a number of Federal projects.

The National Science Foundation has funded a number of research

studies which support the major weather modification programs of

other agencies, particularly those of the Bureau of Reclamation and

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A coordination and advisory role has also been played from time to

time by the committees and panels which have been established to con-

duct major weather modification policy studies. Notable among these

groups are the Advisory Committee on Weather Control, established

by Congress in 1953, and the Weather Modification Advisory Board,

impaneled by the Secretarv of Commerce to implement requirements

of the National Weather Modification Policy Act of 1976. 12

Although not officially sponsored by the Federal Government, a

forum for coordination and exchange of information on Federal as

well as non-Federal programs is provided through the meetings and

the journals of professional organizations. The American Meteorologi-

cal Society (AMS) has sponsored six conferences specifically dealing

with weather modification, at which the majority of the papers de-

livered have been related to Federal research projects and at which

nearly all of the papers have been based on federally sponsored re-

search. Exchange of information on Federal projects has also been

afforded through the medium of AMS journals, particularly the "Bul-

letin of the American Meteorology Society" and the "Journal of

Applied Meteorology." Among the various specialized AMS commit-

tees is the Committee on Weather Modification, concerned with ad-

vances and priorities in weather modification research, the greatest

portion of which is supported in the United States by the Federal

agencies. In addition, specialized conferences on some problem aspects

of weather modification have been sponsored by the AMS, sometimes

jointly with various Federal agencies.

" American Meteorological Society, Abstracts of Special Regional Weather Modification

Conference: Augmentation of Winter Orographic Precipitation in the Western United

States Nov 11 13, 1975, San Francisco, Calif. (Cosponsored by the U.S. Department

Of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation; State of California, Department of Water Re-

potirccs ; and the Weather Modification Association, Boston (no publication date), 24H nn.

12 The purpose, formation, activities, and recommendations of these committees are dis-

eussed in some detail in various other places in this report.

231

The Weather Modification Association (WMA) sj^onsors two pro-

professional organizations, and also published the "Journal of

Weather Modification/' These WMA mechanisms provide additional

opportunities for coordination of Federal projects as information is

exchanged among participants, many of whom are employees of Fed-

eral agencies or of contractors on Federal projects. The organization,

purposes, and activities of the AMS, the WMA, and other nongov-

ernmental organizations concerned with weather modification are dis-

cussed under the section on private organizations in chapter 8 of this

report. 13

Weather Modification Ad visory Board

The National Weather Modification Policy Act of 1976, Public Law

91-490 of October 13, 1976, requires that the Secretary of Commerce

"shall conduct a comprehensive investigation and study of the state of

scientific knowledge concerning weather modification, the present state

of development of weather modification technology, the problems im-

peding eli'ective implementation of weather modification technology,

and other related matters" ; and that "the Secretary shall prepare and

submit to the President and the Congress * * * a final report on the

findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the study."' 14

The Secretary of Commerce responded to these requirements by

appointing an 18-member non-Federal Weather Modification Advisory

Board to conduct the study and prepare a report recommending a na-

tional weather modification policy and a national program of research

and action to carry out the policy. Members of the Advisory Board,

with their affiliations, and the charter to the Board from the Secretary

are included in appendix K. The Board's final draft report is to be

submitted to the Secretary for her approval and any necessary modifi-

cations, after which it will be transmitted to the President and the

Congress.

Owing to the 1976 Presidential election and change of administra-

tion in January 1977. and because of procedures required by the Fed-

eral Advisory Committee Act. the Advisory Board was not officially

appointed until April 1977. Consequently, much of the 1-year allotted

time for the study had been lost and it was apparent that the report

could not be completed by October 13, 1977, as required by Public Law

94-490. An extension of time, requested by the Secretary, was trans-

mitted to both houses of the Congress, and a bill providing for such an

extension was introduced in the Senate, 15 but no action has been taken

to date, and formal action by the Congress to extend the time for com-

pletion of the study seems unlikely. Meanwhile, the Advisory Board

continued its study and report development, planning to deliver its

report to the Secretary of Commerce by June 30, 1978. Following

public hearings and receipt of comments from other executive branch

agencies, it is anticipated that the Secretary will transmit the docu-

ment to the Congress in the late summer or fall of 1978. 16

u Sp P d. 389.

14 Public Law 94-490. Sees. 4 and 5. (The complete text of the law is included in app. I.)

»S. 1938, introduced Jnly 27. 1077. by Sen. Warren G. Masrnuson.

18 This tentative schedule for completion and transmittal of the report is based on dis-

cussions by the Weather Modification Advisory Board at its ninth meeting. Apr. 4, 197S, in

Washington. D.C.

232

The Advisory Board has met formally four times in Washington,

Champaign, 111.; San Francisco, Calif.; Chicago, 111.; Tulsa, Okla. ;

Atlanta, Ga. ; and Aspen, Colo. — combining public hearings with

working sessions. Subpanels and other ad hoc groups of Board

members have also met numerous times to work on specific aspects of

the study and to prepare draft sections of the report. At a hearing on

October 26, 1977, the Chairman of the Advisory Board, Harlan

Cleveland, briefed the Subcommittee on the Environment and the

Atmosphere of the House Committee on Science and Technology, re-

lating activities to date of the Board and submitting for the record a

discussion paper which summarized the Board's thinking at the time. 17

WEATHER MODIFICATION ACTIVITIES REPORTING PROGRAM

Background and regulations

Public Law 92-205 of December 18, 1971, 18 requires reporting

of basic information on all nonfederally sponsored weather modifica-

tion activities in the United States and its territories to the Secretary

of Commerce. The Secretary is further directed to maintain a record

of weather modification activities taking place in the United States

and to publish summaries of such information "from time to time."

Within the Commerce Department the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has administered this pro-

gram on behalf of the Secretary. Rules for carrying out the provisions

of this legislation, published in the Federal Register, 19 went into effect

on November 1, 1972. The rules have since been revised and amended

twice — on February 15, 1974, 20 to cover safety and environmental

aspects of field activities and to consider possible interference with

Federal research projects, and again on July 4, 1976, 21 to modify cer-

tain reporting procedures. A copy of the rules and regulations cur-

rently in effect appears in appendix L. In the same appendix are

copies of the forms and specific reporting instructions to be used for

submission of required information to NOAA by weather modifica-

tion operators.

Reporting requirements include initial, interim, and final reports.

It is required that NOAA receive the initial report at least 10 days

prior to the commencement of weather modification activities. The

rules provide for exceptions whereby this 10-day rule may be waived

under certain emergencies and also require filing a supplemental report

if the initial report is subsequently found to contain inaccuracies, mis-

statements, or omissions or if project plans are changed. The interim

report is required January 1 of each year (October 1 prior to the 1976

revision of the rules) unless the project has been terminated prior to

that date. Upon completion of the project, a final report is due, and,

17 Weather Modification Advisory P,oard. "A U.S. Policy To Enhance the Atmospheric

Environment," a discussion paper. Oct. 21. 1977, 29 pp. (Also appeared In record of

hearing: TVS. Congress. House of Representatives. Committee on Science and Technology,

Subcommittee on the Environment and the Atmosphere. Weather Modification. 95th

Cong., 1st sess. Oct. 21, 1977, pp. 20-49.

18 See appendix I for a reproduction of Public Law 92-205 and see earlier section of this

chapter under congressional activities for discussion of enactment of this law and those

enacted since which have extended appropriations authorization through fiscal year 1980.

19 Federal Register, vol. 37. No. 208. Friday, Oct. 27. 1972.

^Federal Register, vol. 39, No. 10, Tuesday. Jan. 15, 1974.

21 Federal Register, vol. 41. No. 113. June 10, 1976.

233

active. 22

Reporting of Federal activities

Although not required to do so by Public Law 92-205, as of Novem-

ber 1, 1973, Federal agencies also began reporting to NOAA their

experimental activities in weather modification. This procedure re-

sulted from an agreement obtained by the Secretary of Commerce

from the responsible agencies at the request of the Interdepartmental

Committee for Atmospheric Sciences (ICAS) and the Office of Man-

agement and Budget. Reporting guidelines adopted for Federal

agencies are similar to those for non-Federal projects, using the same

data forms; however, Federal entities and employees thereof are ex-

cepted from criminal penalty to which other operators are subject for

noncompliance, and no Federal agency is required to furnish infor-

mation or material whose protection is in the interest of national

security. With similar reporting of federally and nonfederally spon-

sored activities, there now exists a central source of information on all

weather modification projects in the United States. 23

Summary reports on U.S. weather modification activities

Since the Secretary of Commerce was given responsibility for col-

lecting information on weather modification activities and for pub-

lishing "from time to time" summaries of this information, four such

summary reports have been prepared by the Environmental Modifica-

tion Office of NOAA's Office of Environmental Monitoring and Pre-

diction. The first summary covered reported projects which were active

some time between November 1, 1972, and March 22, 1973. 24 The second

report incorporated information published in the first summary and

extended the period of coverage to include activities reported through

December 1973. 25 Subsequent reports summarized information on

ongoing weather modification projects underway during calendar years

1974 26 and 1975, 27 respectively. The latter two summaries include

information on Federal as well as non-Federal projects for the com-

plete calendar years.

An analysis of the weather modification activities conducted in the

United States during calendar year 1975 and a preliminary analysis

of activities during calendar years 1976 and 1977 are found in chap-

ter 7 of this report. These discussions are based upon the latest weather

modification summary report published by NOAA 28 and a prelimi-

nary report on the latter 2 years prepared by Charak. 29

- Charak, Mason T.. "Weather Modification Activity Reports : Calendar Year 1975." Na-

tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Environmental Monitoring and

Prediction, Rockville. Md., June 1976, pp. 3 and 60.

23 Charak, Mason T. and Mary T. DiGiulian, "Weather Modification Activity Reports ;

Nov. 1, 1972, to Dec. 31, 1973." National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

Office of Environmental Monitoring and Prediction, Rockville, Md.. March 1974, pp.

1 and D-l.

24 Charak, Mason T. and Mary T. DiGiulian, "Weather Modification Activity Reports ;

November 1. 1972. to March 22. 1973.'' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

Office of Environmental Monitoring and Prediction. Rockville, Md.. March 1973. 23 pp.

25 Charak and DiGiulian. "Weather Modification Activity Reports ; Nov. 1, 1972 to

Dec. 31, 1973," 1974. 40 pp.

26 Charak. Mason T., "Weather Modification Activity Reports ; Calendar Tear 1974." Na-

tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Environmental Monitoring and

Production, Rockville, Md. March 1975, 37 pp.

^Charak, "Weather Modification Activity Reports; Calendar Year 1975." June 1976,

64 pp.

29 Charak. Mason T.. "Preliminary Analvsis of Reported Weather Modification Activities

In the U.S. for CY 1976 and 1977." (Submitted for publication in the Journal of Weather

Modification, 1978.)

234

It should also be noted that, as part of its responsibilities as lead

tional Science Foundation (NSF) began collecting reports on weather

modification activities on a regular basis in 1966. Two years later, how-

ever, Public Law 90-407 repealed the powers of the NSF to require

such reporting. During those 2 years, the Foundation published sum-

maries of reported activities for fiscal years 1967 and 1968, which were

included in the 9th and 10th annual NSF weather modification re-

ports that were submitted to the President and the Congress. 30 From

September 1, 196S, until December 18, 1971, when Public Law 92-205

was enacted, no Federal department or agency was authorized to col-

lect reports on weather modification activities. During this interim,