Science, and transportation united states senate



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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



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