Pennsylvania : 2025-2026 Regular Session : BILL SB508
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.
Sponsor: Sen Doug Mastriano & Sen Camera Bartolotta & Sen Dawn Keefer
Bill Details
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.
GeoLawWatch Bill Summary
Prohibited Activities:
- The law bans solar radiation modification, sunlight-reflecting methods, cloud seeding, and any other polluting atmospheric interventions in Pennsylvania.
- This prohibition applies to all entities, such as individuals, corporations, municipalities, universities, federal agencies, both foreign and domestic armed services, and artificial intelligence systems.
- It prohibits explicitly stratospheric aerosol injection, marine cloud brightening, cirrus cloud thinning, and outdoor pollution dispersion modelling.
Enforcement Mechanisms:
- If any prohibited activity is suspected, the Pennsylvania State Police or county sheriffs must immediately issue a cease-and-desist order.
- These cease-and-desist orders have the same authority as court orders.
- Law enforcement can refer possible violations to the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
- State and local authorities can notify federal agencies that activities approved by those agencies are not legal in Pennsylvania.
Penalties:
- Violations can result in a felony conviction.
- The minimum fine is $500,000.
- Minimum imprisonment of 2 years
- Both the fine and imprisonment may be imposed at the same time.
- Each day the activity occurs is considered a separate offence.
- Additional penalties from Pennsylvania's Air Pollution Control Act of 1960 also apply.
Unusual Provisions:
- Artificial intelligence is listed explicitly as an entity that can face criminal penalties.
- The law uses an expansive definition of pollutants that includes microelectromechanical systems, 'smart dust,' genetically modified agents, electromagnetic fields, sound waves, and light pollution.
- It covers interoperable facilities for solar radiation modification, whether ground-, airborne-, or space-based.
- Sheriffs, as county law enforcement officers, have the same enforcement authority as the State Police.
- Federal and international organisations are clearly included in the definition of prohibited entities.
- The penalty provisions specifically mention unmarked or unidentified aircraft.
- Physical agent definition uses the "RF/MW." The definition of physical agents includes the abbreviation 'RF/MW,' which stands for radio frequency and microwave.
History
SB508 was introduced on March 21, 2025, by Senators Mastriano and Bartolotta and referred to the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee the same day. As of the available records, the bill remains in committee with no further action taken.
The bill was introduced during Pennsylvania's 2025-2026 regular session, which began January 6, 2025, and extends through November 30, 2026. Pennsylvania operates with a two-year legislative session and allows carryover from 2025 to 2026 within the same biennium, meaning SB508 will remain active throughout 2025 and 2026 unless enacted or formally defeated.
This bill represents the third iteration of the Clean Air Preservation Act in Pennsylvania's legislature. Senator Mastriano previously introduced SB1264 in the 2023-2024 session (June 20, 2024), which was also referred to Agriculture and Rural Affairs but did not advance. The current SB508 is nearly identical to HB1167 (introduced April 7, 2025, by Representatives Schlegel, Banta, Kauffman, Hamm, and Guenst), suggesting coordinated companion bills across chambers. The minor difference between SB508 and HB1167 is the abbreviation "RF/MW" in the physical agent definition, versus the fully spelt-out "radio frequency, microwave radiation" in the House version.
- Fri 21 Mar 2025 Referred to Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Consolidated Bill Text
SENATE BILL No. 508 Session of 2025
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.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Clean Air Preservation Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Air National Guard." The Pennsylvania Air National Guard, a reserve component of the United States Air Force.
"Artificial intelligence" or "AI." A field of science and technology encompassing systems and tools that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence such as learning, reasoning, pattern recognition and decision making, often through computational techniques like machine learning and neural networks.
"Cloud seeding." A type of weather engineering or experimentation that may change the amount or type of precipitation by dispersing chemicals such as dry ice, silver iodide or trimethylaluminum into the atmosphere by means of aircraft or ground generators.
"Entity." Any of the following: (1) Individual. (2) Trust. (3) Firm. (4) Joint stock company. (5) Corporation, including a quasi-governmental corporation. (6) Nongovernmental organization. (7) Partnership. (8) Association. (9) Syndicate. (10) Municipality or municipal agency. (11) Program. (12) Fire district. (13) Club. (14) Nonprofit agency. (15) Commission. (16) University, college or academic institution. (17) Department or agency of this Commonwealth. (18) The Federal Government or any interstate or international governance or instrumentality thereof, including foreign, domestic and mercenary armed services or region within the United States. (19) Artificial intelligence.
"Hazardous." A substance or physical agent by its nature that is harmful to living organisms generally or to property or another interest of value.
"Intervention." The act of interfering with weather processes, altering atmospheric or environmental conditions or releasing pollutants by methods, including, but not limited to, solar radiation modification or sunlight reflection methods, stratospheric aerosol injection, marine cloud brightening, cirrus cloud thinning, weather modification, cloud seeding or outdoor pollution dispersion modeling.
"Machine learning." The process in which a machine can learn on its own without being explicitly programmed.
"Physical agent." An agent, other than a substance, including, without limitation, RF/MW and other electromagnetic radiation and fields, barometric pressure, temperature, gravity, kinetic weaponry, mechanical vibration and sound.
"Pollutant." Any of the following: (1) An aerosol, biologic, trans-biologic, genetically modified agent, chaff, metal, radioactive material, acid, alkali, chemical, chemical compound, contaminant, microelectronic mechanical system, smart dust, smoke, soot, substance, fume, vapor or air pollutant regulated by the Commonwealth. (2) A mechanical vibration, physical agent, particulate or waste, including materials that may be recycled, reconditioned or reclaimed. (3) A solid, liquid, gaseous or thermal irritant. (4) An artificially produced electric field, magnetic field, electromagnetic field, electromagnetic pulse, sound wave, sound pollution, light pollution, microwave or ionizing or nonionizing radiation.
"Polluting atmospheric intervention." An experiment or intervention involving the release of pollutants, conducted by any iteration of human, machine learning or artificial intelligence, or any combination of human, machine learning or artificial intelligence, that occurs in the atmosphere and may have harmful consequences upon health, the environment or agriculture.
"Pollution." The discharge, dispersal, deposition, release, seepage, migration or escape of pollutants.
"Release." Any activity that results in the issuance of contaminants such as the emitting, transmitting, discharging or injecting of one or more nuclear, biological, trans-biological, chemical or physical agents into the ambient atmosphere, whether once, intermittently or continuously.
"Sheriff." A Pennsylvania sheriff, the Constitutional officers responsible for county law enforcement.
"Solar radiation modification" or "sunlight reflection method." An experiment in the Earth's climatic system involving the release of pollutants that reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface. The term includes the use of interoperable, ground-based, airborne and space-based facilities.
"Weather engineering." The deliberate manipulation of the environment for purposes that include changing the weather or climate by artificial means, typically involving the release of pollutants into the atmosphere via cloud seeding, for small-scale, large-scale and global-scale alteration of the environment.
"Weather modification." Changing, controlling or interfering with or attempting to alter, change, control or interfere with the natural development of cloud forms, precipitation, barometric pressure, temperature, conductivity or other electromagnetic or sonic characteristics of the atmosphere.
Section 3. Prohibited activity.
The Pennsylvania State Police or a sheriff shall immediately issue a cease-and-desist order when cloud seeding or polluting atmospheric intervention is suspected. The cease-and-desist order under this section shall have the weight of a court order and any violation shall be punished in accordance with section 5.
Section 4. Notice to cease Federal or foreign-approved programs.
(a) Notice. Government and armed forces projects must meet all the requirements of this act. If an activity deemed hazardous by this act has been approved, explicitly or implicitly, by the Federal Government, the Pennsylvania State Police or a sheriff shall issue a notice to the appropriate Federal agency that the activity cannot lawfully be carried out within or over this Commonwealth.
(b) Implementation. The Pennsylvania State Police or a sheriff is authorized to and shall implement this act, determining whether violations have occurred and, if deemed necessary, shall refer potentially prohibited activity to the Air National Guard.
Section 5. Penalties and enforcement.
An entity that engages in a polluting atmospheric intervention or uses an unmarked or unidentified aircraft or other vehicle or facility to carry out a weather engineering or a polluting atmospheric intervention shall: (1) Have committed a felony and shall pay a fine of not less than $500,000 or be imprisoned for not less than two years, or both. (2) Be guilty of a separate offense for each day during which prohibited activity has been conducted, repeated or continued. (3) Be deemed in violation and subject to any further penalties of the act of January 8, 1960 (1959 P.L.2119, No.787), known as the Air Pollution Control Act.
Section 6. Effective date.
This act shall take effect immediately.
Supplementary documents
Memo from Senator Doug Mastriano
We will soon be re-introducing legislation ( SB 1264 Last Session - The Clean Air Preservation Act) to assure Pennsylvanians that the clean air, water and healthy environment guaranteed to them in the Pennsylvania Constitution (Article 1, Section 27) are better protected.
In 1967, the General Assembly had the foresight to pass a law to regulate weather modification involving cloud seeding experiments after unauthorized attempts by a group using planes and ground generators to emit silver iodide into the air to suppress hail in Fulton and Franklin counties, as well as information about the US and other countries experimentation in weather manipulation for national security and potential weaponization purposes, came to light.
The White House last year released a report, "Congressionally Mandated Research Plan & Initial Research Governance Framework Related to Solar Radiation Modification" providing documentation that the Federal Government, or other entities acting on the Federal Government's behalf or at the Federal Government's request, may conduct solar radiation modification (SRM), or geoengineering experiments involving the release of air contaminants into the atmosphere, and those activities may occur within this Commonwealth.
Allowing the release of unknown, experimental, and potentially hazardous substances into the atmosphere without the consent of the people of Pennsylvania is a clear violation of Article 1, Section 27 of the PA Constitution.
With the 1967 law for weather modification control as precedent, and joining ten other states this year in proposing related legislation, The Clean Air Preservation Act will prohibit the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals, chemical compounds, or substances within the borders of Pennsylvania into the atmosphere for purposes which include affecting temperature, weather, and intensity of sunlight. This legislation was introduced in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Illinois, South Dakota, Missouri, Kentucky, South Carolina, Minnesota, and Ohio -- and passed into law in Tennessee.
Please join us in cosponsoring this important legislation.
If you have any questions regarding this bill, please contact Don Beishl in my office