The purpose of the NAIWMC, as stated in the adopted bylaws, is
divided into the following six categories :
Operations. — Tho Council shall assist governmental and private or-
ganizations in planning, design, implementation 7 , coordination, and
assessment of ongoing, temporary, and emergency Weather modifica-
tion operations which are planned with the intent or conducted with
the effect of causing international, national, interstate, or intrastate
consequences. The Council shall promote effective partnerships among
various agencies conducting weather modification operations, and
shall assist in integrating weather modification operations with water
resources development and other activities affected by weather modi-
fication activities.
337
Research and development. — The Council shall assist governmental
and private organizations in planning, design, implementation, co-
ordination, and assessment of weather modification research and de-
velopment. It shall promote common research concerning weather
modification activities and their environmental and societal conse-
quences. The Council shall provide a forum for the exchange of expe-
rience, data, and information about weather modification.
Public involvment. — The Council shall seek to provide informa-
tion for and engage the discussions with (a) public officials, (b) per-
sons involved in weather modification activities or who demonstrate
an interest in the effects of weather modification, and (c) the general
public. It shall serve as spokesman for the needs and views of the
member jurisdictions, and it shall develop public education programs.
Legislation. — The Council shall assist national governments, State
or Provincial governments, and groups of State or Provincial govern-
ments in preparation, review, and alternation of treaties, statutes,
compacts, and administrative rules and regulations. It shall seek to
obtain legislation which is responsive to local. State, interstate, na-
tional, and international concerns.
Regulations. — The Council shall assist regulatory agencies in main-
taining a high level of integrity and professional competency among
weather modifiers. It shall assist regulatory agencies in coordination
of their professional licensing and operational permit issuing func-
tions. It shall serve as a clearinghouse for environmental impact
statements relating to weather modification and for such other data
as will assist regulatory agencies.
Miscellaneous. — The Council shall serve such other purposes relat-
ing to the development, operation, and control of weather modifica-
tion as are consistent with those purposes expressly named in this
article. Such purposes shall be stated by resolution adopted at annual,
regular, or special meetings of the Council. 17
Counting the January 1975 conference in Denver as the first meeting
of the Council, there have been a total of five NAIWMC conferences
through 1977. The second annual meeting was held in January 1976
at Kansas City, Mo. 18 Two subsequent conferences were also held dur-
ing 1976, both in Denver, in August and December, respectively. The
first of these was a special meeting on legal uncertainties of weather
modification, and the December conference was the third annual meet-
ing of the Council. 19 At both of these conferences, the Council held
business meetings. The 1977 regular meeting of the NAIWMC was
held November 3-4 in Canada at Calgary, Alberta. Proceedings of the
1977 conference will be published during 1978.
The annual meetings of the NAIWMC provide opportunities to ex-
change information on weather modification activities within the sev-
eral Council areas and to discuss and act upon resolutions and posi-
tion statements pertaining to matters of State, regional, national, and
international concern. Five resolutions were passed at the first meeting
in J anuary 1975, on the following subjects :
1. Federal and State legislative actions affecting weather modifica-
17 Keyes. "North American Interstate Weather Modification Council : Need, Goals, Pur-
pose, and Activities." 1977. pp. 919-920.
18 North American Interstate Weather Modification Council. "Conference on Weather
Modification. Todav and Tomorrow," January 15-16, 1976, Kansas City, Mo., publication
No. 76-1. NAIWMC. Las Cruces. N. Mex.. 119 pp.
19 North American Interstate Weather Modification Council, "Legal Uncertainties and
Legislation in Weather Modification ; Special and Third Annual Meeting of the Council,"
NAIWMC publication No. 77-1. September 1977. 172 pp.
338
tion: The unanimous decision of the NAIWMC was to inform all
Federal legislators of the existence of the Council and of the interest
and willingness of the organization to assist in the preparation and
review of existing and proposed Federal legislation. Further, since
some of the States have successful legislation in effect and have had
considerable experience in implementing their laws, the Council felt it
appropriate to offer the expertise of its members to assist other States
in preparation and development of weather modification legislation.
2. U.S. Forest Service control of weather modification activities:
Based upon the Organic Administration Act of 1897 (30 Stat. 34, 35,
36; 16 U.S.C. 475), regional supervisors of the Forest Service have
recently required land and water use permits for weather modification
projects possibly impacting national forest or national grassland
areas. The NAIWMC unanimously opposed this action of some Forest
Service personnel and strongly recommended that both Federal and
State officials and agencies address this problem, since its ramifications
could well reach beyond the question of weather modification regula-
tion and control.
3. Planning and operation of weather modification programs in
drought emergency situations: Because of existing and continuing
drought conditions over much of the Great Plains and the Corn Belt,
it was anticipated that Federal governments may implement weather
modification activities as a drought relief tool. It was noted, however,
that the feasibility of such relief was limited to decisionmaking totally
within Federal agencies, without consultation with officials of poten-
tially affected States. The NAIWMC recommended that State agen-
cies be consulted and included in the planning, developing, and imple-
menting of emergency weather modification programs during drought
situations.
4. Assistance in reviewing, assessing, and furthering the field of
weather modification by the Weather Modification Association : In this
resolution the NAIWMC requested that the Weather Modification As-
sociation consider supporting the concept of the Council and agree to
provide a ready and willing reservoir of talent and expertise to the
Council and/or the various States. 20
5. Emergency drought assistance bill, S. 4028, 93d Congress: The
NAIWMC strongly supported the concept of utilizing weather modi-
fication as proposed in the bill, but further suggested that these con-
cepts be expanded to specifically include a strong organizational struc-
ture at the State level, advanced technical planning, the mechanisms
for quick-reacting financial response, and a strong local input to sub-
sequent field operations. The Council furthermore recommended that
such a bill ought to specify a mechanism for recognizing and antici-
pating the conditions under which its provisions would come to play
so that relief could be given before a drought becomes advanced and
critical. 21
At the January 1070 meeting, the Council adopted position state-
ments on bills then before the 94th Congress of the United States. The
2,) The purposes and activities of the Weather Modification Association are discussed un-
der Private Activities in eh. 8. p. •"'•!•<».
21 Keyes. "NAIWMC — Formation and Its Activities Through 1975," 1976, pp. 160-162.
339
first of three bills introduced by Senator Henry Bellmon, S. 2705, to
establish a National Weather Modification Commission, was strongly
supported by the Council, which pledged to work with such a com-
mission if established. No position was adopted, however, on the other
two "Bellmon bills," and an opposing position was taken on H.R.
10039 (the "Evans bill''). 22
The NAIWMC has established close coordination with the Council
of State governments and the National Conference of State Legisla-
tures, recommending that input be made on weather modification at
future meetings of both groups. Suggested issues to be discussed at
such meetings include interstate arrangements for research, operations,
and evaluation; provision of institutional framework for handling
funding and tradeoffs between various societal segments; and provi-
sion of better information to State decisionmakers in both the execu-
tive and legislative branches. 23 In January 1976 the Council adopted
a resolution to support the draft of the proposed model law on weather
modification, prepared by Prof. Ray Davis of the University of Ari-
zona. Copies of this draft law have been provided to the Model Law
Committee of the Council of State Governments. The NAIWMC also
supported the concept of and sponsored four participants to the con-
ference on "Legal and Scientific Uncertainties of Weather Modifica-
tion," conducted by the American Bar Foundation and the American
Association for the Advancement of Science at Duke University on
March 12-13, 1976. State governments have requested and received
testimony from members of the Council ; and, in particular, such testi-
mony was provided at meetings of the Minnesota Task Force on
Weather Modification and the Minnesota State Senate prior to adop-
tion of the new Minnesota weather modification statute. 124
The Council has also participated with Federal agencies in planning
future weather modification projects affecting various regions of the
country. A cooperative planning session on the Bureau of Reclama-
tion's proposed Colorado River weather modification demonstration
program was sponsored by the NAIWMC in Denver in August 1976.
Invited to the session were the seven States on the Colorado River
Basin, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Upper Colorado River Com-
mission, and State commissions from the lower river basin. The Coun-
cil has also been requested by the Advanced Planning Group on
NOAA's Weather Modification Project Office in Boulder to provide
input to planning of future weather modification research projects.- 5
In order to learn about the State weather modification activities,
laws, institutional structure, research recommendations, and potential
interest in participation on the Council, the NAIWMC circulated a
number of questionnaires among the officials and agencies of State
governments during 1976 and 1977. Information from these surveys
has been summarized in tabulated form and conclusions formulated
22 See ch. 5. p. 20H. for a synopsis of tbe<-e bills introduced in +he 94th Congress.
23 Keves. 'North American Interstate Weather Modification Council: Need, Goals, Pur-
pose, and Activities," 1977, p. 922.
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.
340
by the executive secretary of the Council. This information is presented
elsewhere in this report in discussions of State weather modification
activities 2G and recommended research activities for Federal agencies. 27
Questionnaires and regional meetings of the NAIWMC have de-
fined potential users of weather modification technology throughout
the North American Continent. Views on legislation have also been
presented in testimony at 1976 weather modification hearings in both
Houses of the U.S. Congress and before Appropriation Committees in
19TT. Testimony was also provided by the NAIWMC to the U.S.
Department of Commerce Weather Modification Advisory Board at
its fifth meeting in October 1977 in Champaign, 111. Recommendation
by the States, presented through the Council in such testimony, has
generally supported a Federal law which would include establishment
of a national weather modification policy in research and development,
a coordinated effort of Federal activities (possibly by regions or major
water basins) , and a common licensing and permit system administered
by the States. 28
Results of a survey of State interests in weather modification, con-
ducted by the NAIWMC, are included in the following section.
SURVEY AND SUMMARY OF STATE INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES IN WEATHER
MODIFICATION
During 1977, the North American Interstate Weather Modification
Council (NAIWMC) surveyed weather modification interests in all
50 States, posing the following questions to appropriate State agencies
or officials :
1. Which organizations in your State have the mission of licensing,
monitoring, controlling, or operating weather modification activities ?
2. Does your State presently support weather modification pro-
grams ?
3. What weather modification regulation does your State have?
4. What positions on weather modification does your State have ? 29
The responses received in reply to the NAIWMC questionnaire have
since been revised and updated. The data in table 3 were obtained
from officials in the respective States and have been updated through
January 1978. 30 In the table the States are arranged according to the
10 areas to which they had been assigned by the NAIWMC prior to
the reorganization into six areas at the November 1977 annual meet-
ing. 31 (Areas 2 and 4 were comprised of the Canadian Provinces and
the Mexican States, respectively, and are not included in the results of
the survey.)
26 See p. :i41 in this chapter.
2" See ch. 3, p. 138.
28 Keyes, Conrad G., Jr., "Federal Research iseeds and New Law Requirements in Weather
Modification : the NAIWMC Viewpoint," testimony before the U.S. Department of Commerce
Weather Modification Advisory Board, Champaign, in.. Oct. 14. 1977.
-"' Keyes, "North American Interstate Weather Modification Council : Need, Goals, Pur-
pose, arid Activities," 1077. p. 924. (In addition to these four questions, the States were also
queried about their interests and potential participation in the Council ; since these latter
questions and responses to them are not germane to the general survey of State activities,
they are not included in the list aliove or in the assemblage of responses in table 3.)
Keyes. Conrad (J.. Jr.. Private communication, January 1!)7S.
ni See preceding section, p. .°>.'W, for a discussion of the North American Interstate Weather
Modification Council.
341
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343
In his analysis of the responses to the NATVVMC questionnaire
Keyes has made the following observations : 32
h Few States have weather modification regulation outside a de-
partment of water or natural resources.
2. Only a few States have direct involvement in on-going weather
modification programs.
3. Several States support the concept of funding further research
in weather modification.
4. Twenty-nine States have a law that deals directly or indirectly
with weather modification.
5. Very few States have positions concerning weather modification
programs.
STATE CONTACTS FOR INFORMATION ON WEATHER MODIFICATION ACTIVITIES
The diversity of weather modification activities within the States
and the frequent changes in State laws and procedures for executing
the provisions of the laws point to the need for obtaining current
information on a given State through responsible State officials. Also,
further information on the statute's official activities, and policy to-
ward weather modification in the several States can be obtained
through contacting appropriate individuals within the governmental
structure of each State. A list of such persons, found in appendix E,
has been assembled from names and addresses of persons within the
States, collected by the Xorth American Interstate Weather Modifica-
tion Council (NAIWMC), who have some interest and/or respon-
sibility for weather modification. 33
The list in appendix E is intended to provide a single point of
contact within each State and is believed to be current as of January
1978. The individuals listed are cognizant of official State activities
and current State laws; however, they can also serve as starting points
within each State, leading to subsequent contacts for additional in-
formation for which they may not have direct responsibility. Such
information might relate to local operations and activities of citizens
groups, commercial operators incorporated and based within the State
(whose sphere of operations includes other States and countries),
university research projects, and Federal research projects conducted
within the State.
The list of individuals in appendix E is complete in that all 50
States are represented, including those without weather modification
laws. In the latter cases, the names or offices appearing are those quali-
fied to respond to queries on private or local activities within the
State or on current and future State interest on the subject. The entries
in the list are alphabetically ordered according to State name.
NONFEDERAL U.S. WEATHER MODIFICATION ACTIVITIES
The mechanism for reporting of U.S. weather modification activities
to the Secretary of Commerce through the National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration (XOAA). as required by Public Law 92-
205 and its amendments, has been discussed under activities of the
executive branch of the Federal Government. 34 In accordance with the
32 Keves. "North American Interstate Weather Modification Council : Need, Goals. Pur-
pose, and Activities." 1977. pp. 924-925.
33 Keyes, Conrad G., Jr. (executive secretary of the North American Interstate Weather
Modification Council), private communication.
34 See chapter 5, p. 232.
344
requirement for publishing summary reports on these activities "from
time to time,'' XOAA has prepared four such summary reports, the
13>
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