Minnesota : 2025-2026 Regular Session : BILL SF2462
Prior law prohibiting weather modification reenactment
Sponsor: Sen Eric Lucero & Sen Bill Lieske & Sen Glenn Gruenhagen & Sen Bruce Anderson & Sen Nathan Wesenberg
Bill Details
Prior law prohibiting weather modification reenactment
Bill summary (AI generated)
Minnesota Senate File 2462: Prior Law Prohibiting Weather Modification
I. Legislative Policy and State Authority (Sections 1 and 2)
• Policy Goal: The legislature deems it necessary to ensure public safety, human health, and environmental welfare by protecting citizens against weather modification.
• Sovereign Right Claim: The state claims its sovereign right to protect its residents and their health and welfare within state boundaries and in the airspace above those boundaries, for the best interest of its residents.
II. Key Definitions (Section 3)
The bill defines key terms broadly for the purpose of this chapter:
• Modification (Weather Modification): The performance or attempted performance of, or activity in connection with, the intentional placement, injection, release, or dispersion (by any means) of a chemical, chemical compound, substance, or apparatus into the atmosphere or clouds.
â—¦ This activity must be for the purpose of producing or attempting to produce a modifying effect on the composition, motion, or resulting behavior of the weather.
â—¦ This explicitly includes cloud or atmosphere seeding.
• Weather: This is defined to include the atmosphere, clouds, temperature, barometric pressure, wind, rain, lightning, hail, sleet, fog, frost, and the intensity of sunlight.
• Person: The definition is comprehensive, covering an individual, firm, association, company, public or private corporation, trust, or federal, county, city, or other public agency.
III. Prohibition and Penalty (Sections 4 and 5)
• Prohibition: A person must not engage or attempt to engage in weather modification within the state's sovereign boundaries or in the airspace above the state's boundaries.
• Penalty: Any person violating this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor.
• Continuous Offense: Each day that the violation continues is considered a separate offense.
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Contextual Note: SF2462, like its companion bill HF2310, seeks to ban intentional weather modification, including cloud seeding and altering sunlight intensity. This approach is distinct from the earlier Minnesota bills (HF4687 and SF4630) that focused on prohibiting specific harmful atmospheric activities like Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) and excessive electromagnetic radiation, carrying a significantly higher felony penalty and $500,000 fine.
• Geoengineering is defined generally as a broad range of activities that intentionally attempt to cool the Earth or remove certain gases from the atmosphere.
• Weather modification is the intentional modification of regional or local weather patterns. The main difference is that weather modification is intended to have local, short-term effects, while solar geoengineering (a subset of geoengineering) is intended to have larger regional or global effects that persist. Both types of activities are addressed by the prohibitions in SF2462.
History
The bill began its journey in November 2024 and has gone through several stages in the legislative process. It was filed and subsequently referred to various committees, including Environment and Natural Resources and later Appropriations. After undergoing discussions and votes, it was introduced and read for the first time in March 2025. Currently, it has been referred to the Environment, Climate, and Legacy committee, where it will be further reviewed. The next steps will involve potential debates and votes in this committee before it can progress to the wider legislative assembly for further consideration. The bill remains active, with no indication of failure or passage at this point.
- Thu 13 Mar 2025 Introduction and first reading
- Thu 13 Mar 2025 Referred to Environment, Climate, and Legacy
Bill text (Transcribed)
Minnesota : 2025-2026 Regular Session : BILL SF2462
Prior law prohibiting weather modification reenactment
SENATE
STATE OF MINNESOTA
NINETY-FOURTH SESSION S.F. No. 2462
(SENATE AUTHORS: LUCERO, Lieske, Gruenhagen, Anderson and Wesenberg)
A bill for an act
relating to environment; reenacting prior law prohibiting weather modification; providing criminal penalties; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 42.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. [42.15] POLICY.
The legislature finds it necessary for the state to ensure public safety, human health, and environmental welfare by protecting citizens against weather modification.
Sec. 2. [42.16] SOVEREIGN RIGHT CLAIMED BY STATE.
For the best interest of its residents, the state claims its sovereign right to ensure public safety, human health, and environmental welfare and to protect its citizens within state boundaries and in the airspace above state boundaries.
Sec. 3. [42.17] DEFINITIONS.
(a) For purposes of this chapter, the terms defined in this section have the meanings given.
(b) "Modification" means performance or attempted performance of or an activity or attempted activity in connection with the intentional placement, injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of a chemical, a chemical compound, a substance, or an apparatus into the atmosphere or clouds within the atmosphere, including cloud or atmosphere seeding, for the purpose of producing or attempting to produce a modifying effect to the composition, motion, or resulting behavior of the weather.
(c) "Person" means a person; firm; association; organization; partnership; company; public or private corporation; trust; or federal, county, city, or other public agency.
(d) "Weather" includes but is not limited to the atmosphere, clouds within the atmosphere, temperature, barometric pressure, intensity of sunlight, wind, rain, lightning, hail, sleet, fog, and frost.
Sec. 4. [42.18] PROHIBITION.
Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a person must not engage or attempt to engage in weather modification within the state's sovereign boundaries or in the airspace above the state's boundaries.
Sec. 5. [42.19] PENALTY.
A person violating this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor, and each day that the violation continues is a separate offense.
Prior law prohibiting weather modification reenactment
SENATE
STATE OF MINNESOTA
NINETY-FOURTH SESSION S.F. No. 2462
(SENATE AUTHORS: LUCERO, Lieske, Gruenhagen, Anderson and Wesenberg)
A bill for an act
relating to environment; reenacting prior law prohibiting weather modification; providing criminal penalties; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 42.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. [42.15] POLICY.
The legislature finds it necessary for the state to ensure public safety, human health, and environmental welfare by protecting citizens against weather modification.
Sec. 2. [42.16] SOVEREIGN RIGHT CLAIMED BY STATE.
For the best interest of its residents, the state claims its sovereign right to ensure public safety, human health, and environmental welfare and to protect its citizens within state boundaries and in the airspace above state boundaries.
Sec. 3. [42.17] DEFINITIONS.
(a) For purposes of this chapter, the terms defined in this section have the meanings given.
(b) "Modification" means performance or attempted performance of or an activity or attempted activity in connection with the intentional placement, injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of a chemical, a chemical compound, a substance, or an apparatus into the atmosphere or clouds within the atmosphere, including cloud or atmosphere seeding, for the purpose of producing or attempting to produce a modifying effect to the composition, motion, or resulting behavior of the weather.
(c) "Person" means a person; firm; association; organization; partnership; company; public or private corporation; trust; or federal, county, city, or other public agency.
(d) "Weather" includes but is not limited to the atmosphere, clouds within the atmosphere, temperature, barometric pressure, intensity of sunlight, wind, rain, lightning, hail, sleet, fog, and frost.
Sec. 4. [42.18] PROHIBITION.
Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a person must not engage or attempt to engage in weather modification within the state's sovereign boundaries or in the airspace above the state's boundaries.
Sec. 5. [42.19] PENALTY.
A person violating this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor, and each day that the violation continues is a separate offense.