Rhode Island : 2026 Regular Session : BILL S2220
Establishes the Rhode Island Clean Air Preservation Act that establishes a regulatory process to prohibit polluting atmospheric experimentation.
Sponsor: Sen Elaine Morgan & Sen David Tikoian & Sen Stefano Famiglietti & Sen Leonidas Raptakis
Bill Details
HEALTH AND SAFETY -- THE RHODE ISLAND CLEAN AIR PRESERVATION ACT - Establishes the Rhode Island Clean Air Preservation Act that establishes a regulatory process to prohibit polluting atmospheric experimentation.
GeoLawWatch Bill Summary
Prohibition: No person or entity may engage in solar radiation modification (SRM), cloud seeding, weather modification, geoengineering, or other "polluting atmospheric experimentation and/or interventions" within or over the State of Rhode Island. This includes activities conducted via aircraft, balloons, space-based platforms, ground generators, or interoperable ground-based facilities.
The bill applies to all actors, including government agencies, the federal government, armed forces, academic institutions, NGOs, public-private partnerships, and artificial intelligence, which is listed as a type of "entity" subject to the law.
Enforcement structure: Enforcement is centralised under a single agency: the Rhode Island State Police (RISP). RISP is authorised to implement the chapter, determine when violations have occurred, and, if necessary, refer potentially violative activity to the Rhode Island Air National Guard. There is no role assigned to the Department of Environmental Management, a significant structural difference from other geoengineering prohibition bills, which typically distribute enforcement across multiple agencies.
RISP must immediately issue a cease-and-desist order, with the weight of a court order, whenever an unlawful atmospheric activity is suspected.
Citizen deputization: RISP is required to deputise and train volunteer Rhode Island citizens to assist with enforcement. This is a mandatory provision -- the bill uses "shall" rather than "may." These deputised citizens and state police are then required to investigate reports of SRM or radiation pollution.
Federal preemption challenge: If a federally approved activity is deemed hazardous under this chapter, state police must issue notice to the appropriate federal authority that the activity cannot lawfully be conducted within or over Rhode Island. Government and armed forces projects must comply regardless of federal approval.
Penalties: Violations are classified as felonies carrying a fine of not less than $500,000 or imprisonment of not less than 5 years, or both. Each day of continued violative activity constitutes a mandatory separate offence -- the bill uses "shall be guilty" rather than "may be guilty."
Radiofrequency infrastructure regulation (Section 23-23.8-7): The bill goes well beyond atmospheric modification to regulate wireless telecommunications infrastructure. All "irradiating infrastructure" -- defined as any facility, antenna, instrument, equipment, or satellite used for pulse-modulated radiofrequency/microwave radiation transmission -- must be evaluated by an independent licensed RF engineer, paid for by the facility owner, with findings reported to RISP. Specific technical limits are imposed: the radiation signal strength at any reported location may not exceed -75 dBm for any frequency or channel band specified in the entity's FCC license, and the maximum power output from all frequencies/antennas of a wireless facility may not exceed 0.1 watt of effective radiated power (ERP). Facility operators found in excess of -75 dBm have 30 days to achieve compliance. RISP or deputised citizens shall perform random testing. Non-compliance carries a fine of at least $500,000 per day. Deliberate falsification is punished as a felony under the same penalty structure as atmospheric violations.
Mandatory fiber-optic deployment (Section 23-23.8-7(2)): The bill requires the "safe and secure deployment" of hardwired fibre-optic connections to the premises (FTTP) to homes, schools, and businesses. Additionally, consumer choice options, including non-wireless routers, non-wireless modems, and non-wireless mechanical analogue utility meters, must be offered to customers within their home, property, or business without additional fees.
Emergency management amendment (Section 3): The bill amends Section 30-15-7 of the General Laws on the governor's emergency management powers. The reprinted text appears identical to existing law and includes the governor's authority to direct state agencies on matters including "weather modification" as part of disaster prevention studies. The purpose of this amendment is unclear -- the text does not contain visible additions or deletions, and may simply be intended to restate the existing provision in the context of the new chapter.
Unusual provisions:
- The $500,000 minimum fine is one of the steepest penalty floors seen in any state geoengineering prohibition bill, and the per-day stacking is mandatory rather than discretionary.
- Mandatory citizen deputization by state police for enforcement is an extraordinary provision that would create a volunteer civilian enforcement corps with investigative authority.
- The RF signal strength limits (-75 dBm, 0.1 watt ERP) would effectively regulate all wireless telecommunications facilities in the state under the umbrella of an atmospheric modification prohibition bill, raising significant federal preemption issues under the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
- The mandatory fibre-optic deployment requirement and non-wireless consumer equipment mandates go far beyond atmospheric modification into telecommunications infrastructure policy.
- The definition of "entity" includes artificial intelligence as a category that can commit felonies.
- The definition of "entity" omits "fund" from the list, which is present in some versions of this template language.
- "Weather modification" is defined without the qualifier "small-scale" that appears in some versions of this template, instead reading simply "any activity performed with the intention of producing artificial changes in the composition, behavior, or dynamics of the atmosphere."
- The section heading for 23-23.8-4 contains a typographical error: a double period at the end.
- Section 23-23.8-7 mixes substantive regulatory requirements (RF limits, fibre-optic mandates) into what is titled as an "Investigatory findings -- Responses" section, creating an awkward structural fit.
Effective date: Upon passage (no delayed implementation).
History
S 2220 was introduced on January 23, 2026, by Senators E. Morgan, Tikoian, Famiglietti, and Raptakis, and referred to the Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee. The bill carries legislative council document number LC003289.
Rhode Island's 2026 regular session convened on January 6, 2026, with adjournment scheduled for June 30, 2026. The bill was filed in the third week of the session, giving it over five months of potential committee consideration. With four Senate sponsors, it has a modest base of visible support. No further action beyond introduction and referral has been recorded.
- Fri 23 Jan 2026 Introduced, referred to Senate Environment and Agriculture
Consolidated Bill Text
LC003289
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
AN ACT
RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- THE RHODE ISLAND CLEAN AIR PRESERVATION ACT
Introduced By: Senators E Morgan, Tikoian, Famiglietti, and Raptakis
Date Introduced: January 23, 2026
Referred To: Senate Environment & Agriculture
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Legislative intent.
The general assembly finds and intends the following:
(1) Attempts to alter atmospheric conditions through cloud seeding, weather modification, solar radiation modification (SRM), sunlight reflection methods (SRM), solar radiation management (SRM), geoengineering, and other atmospheric experiments and/or interventions involve the release of pollutants, including Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), known also as "forever chemicals," into the atmosphere;
(2) Environmental accumulation of combustible agents contained in cloud seeding aerosols and other pollutants released in atmospheric experiments and/or interventions threatens public health and safety, with the potential to cause harm and desiccation of all biological life, contributing to drought and the hazard of catastrophic forest fires; and
(3) It is therefore in the public interest to prohibit solar radiation modification (SRM), sunlight reflection methods (SRM), solar radiation management (SRM), cloud seeding, and any other polluting atmospheric experiments and/or interventions.
SECTION 2. Title 23 of the General Laws entitled "HEALTH AND SAFETY" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:
CHAPTER 23.8
THE RHODE ISLAND CLEAN AIR PRESERVATION ACT
23-23.8-1. Short title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "The Rhode Island Clean Air Preservation Act".
23-23.8-2. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Air National Guard" means the Rhode Island air national guard (RI ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Rhode Island. It is not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. In the event that RI ANG is federalized, the governor shall form a state guard to defend Rhode Island airspace.
(2) "Artificial intelligence (AI)" means 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. AI operates within defined parameters to analyze, predict, and execute actions based on complex datasets, with applications ranging from healthcare and genomics to military systems and public policy.
(3) "Atmospheric activity" means any deliberate polluting experiment or intervention conducted by any iteration of human, machine learning, or artificial intelligence (AI) or any combination thereof, that occurs in the atmosphere and may have harmful consequences upon health, the environment, wildlife, and/or agriculture.
(4) "Atmospheric contaminant" means any type of aerosol, biologic and/or trans-biologic agent, chaff, genetically modified agent, graphene-oxide, metal, radioactive material, vapor, particulate down to or less than one nanometer in diameter, smart dust, and any air pollutant regulated by the state, any xenobiotic (foreign-to-life) electromagnetic radiation and fields, mechanical vibration and other physical agents, or any combination of these contaminants.
(5) "Chaff" means aluminum-coated silica glass fibers typically dispersed in bundles containing five million (5,000,000) to one hundred million (100,000,000) inhalable fibers, which fall to the ground in about one day, or for nanochaff, years, and then fall and break apart; Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), known also as "forever chemicals," are an ingredient in chaff.
(6) "Cloud seeding" means a type of weather engineering or experimentation that may change the amount or type of precipitation by dispersing chemicals or chemical compounds such as dry ice (CO2), silver iodide (AGI), or Tri-methyl aluminum (TMA) into the atmosphere by means of aircraft or ground generators.
(7) "Desiccate" means to dry up or cause to dry up.
(8) "Entity" means any of the following: an individual; trust; firm; joint stock company; corporation, including a quasi-governmental corporation; non-governmental organization (NGO), partnership; public private partnership; association; syndicate; municipality or state or municipal agency; program; fire district; club; nonprofit agency; commission; university; college or academic institution; department or agency of the state; 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; artificial intelligence (AI).
(9) "Geoengineering" means the intentional large-scale alteration or manipulation of the environment, typically involving the release of aerosols, chemicals, chemical compounds, electromagnetic radiation and/or other physical agents that increase air pollution and effect changes to earth's atmosphere or surface, inclusive of solar radiation modification (SRM), solar radiation management (SRM), sunlight reflection methods (SRM), stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), cirrus cloud thinning (CCT), marine cloud brightening (MCB), or cloud seeding.
(10) "Hazard" means a substance or physical agent by its nature harmful to living organisms, generally, and/or to property or another interest of value.
(11) "Individual" means any man, woman, or child.
(12) "Intervention" means 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 (SRM), sunlight reflection methods (SRM), solar radiation management (SRM), stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), marine cloud brightening (MCB), cirrus cloud thinning (CCT), weather modification, cloud seeding, or outdoor pollution dispersion modeling.
(13) "Irradiating infrastructure" means a facility, antenna, instrument, equipment, or satellite used for the transmission and/or reception of pulse-modulated radiofrequency/microwave radiation for communications and other purposes.
(14) "Laser" means light amplification by stimulated emission for radiation devices. Lasers typically have unique frequencies in the infrared, visible, or ultraviolet parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
(15) "Machine learning" means the process relative to AI, in which a machine can learn on its own without being explicitly programmed.
(16) "Physical agent" means an agent other than a substance including, without limitation, radiofrequency/microwave (RF/MW) radiation pollution and other electromagnetic radiation pollution and fields, maser, barometric pressure, temperature, gravity, kinetic weaponry, mechanical vibration and sound.
(17) "Pollution" means the discharge, dispersal, deposition, injection, release, seepage, migration or escape of pollutants.
(18) "Pollutants" means any solid, liquid, gaseous, or thermal irritant, contaminant, or substance, including smoke, vapor, soot, fumes, aerosol plumes, acid, alkalis, chemicals including, but not limited to, barium, strontium, tri-methyl aluminum, sulfur dioxide, magnesium, chemical compounds, coal-fly ash, chaff, artificially produced electric fields, magnetic field, electromagnetic field, electromagnetic pulse (EMP), sound waves, sound pollution, light pollution, microwaves, and all artificially produced ionizing or non-ionizing radiation, and/or waste. Waste includes materials to be recycled, reconditioned or reclaimed.
(19) "Release" means any activity that results in the issuance or deposition of pollutants such as the emitting, transmitting, dispersion, discharging or injecting of one or more nuclear, biological, trans-biological, chemical, and/or physical agents into the ambient atmosphere, whether once, intermittently, or continuously.
(20) "Satellite" means a facility launched into earth's orbit to perform functions including, but not limited to, transmission of electromagnetic radiation pollution via communications, global positioning, intelligence gathering, weather forecasting, weather experimentation, weather modification and weaponry. Currently satellites are operating in low earth orbit (LEO), medium earth orbit (MEO), and high earth orbit (HEO).
(21) "Satellite weather modification system (SWMS)" means weather modification by satellites involves a space-based, man-made network of satellites communicating in real-time with other satellites and ground-based infrastructure via transmission of electromagnetic radiation pollution such as lasers.
(22) "Solar radiation modification (SRM)", "sunlight reflection methods (SRM)", or "solar radiation management (SRM)" means an experiment in the earth's climatic system involving the release of pollutants that reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the earth's surface. SRM involves the use of inter-operable ground-based, airborne, and space-based facilities.
(23) "State police" means the Rhode Island state police (RISP), an agency of the State of Rhode Island responsible for statewide law enforcement and regulation, especially in areas underserved by local police agencies and on the state's limited-access highways.
(24) "Weather engineering" means the deliberate manipulation or alteration of the environment for the purpose of changing the weather or climate by artificial means, through interventions involving the release of pollutants into the atmosphere via cloud seeding for small-scale, large-scale, and global-scale alteration of the environment.
(25) "Weather modification" means any activity performed with the intention of producing artificial changes in the composition, behavior, or dynamics of the atmosphere.
23-23.8-3. Regulation by the state.
(a) Government and armed forces projects shall meet all the requirements of this chapter. If an activity deemed a hazard by this chapter has been approved, explicitly or implicitly, by the federal government, the Rhode Island state police (RISP) shall issue a notice to the appropriate federal agency that the activity cannot lawfully be carried out within or over the state.
(b) RISP is authorized to and shall implement this chapter, determining when violations have occurred and if deemed necessary shall refer potentially violative activity to the Rhode Island air national guard.
23-23.8-4. Violative activity - Prohibition on solar radiation modification (SRM), sunlight reflection methods (SRM), solar radiation management (SRM), cloud seeding, weather modification, or other polluting atmospheric experiments and/or interventions.
(a) No person or entity shall engage in SRM or other polluting atmospheric experimentation and/or interventions in this state, including through the use of an aircraft, balloon, space-based platform, ground generators, or interoperable ground-based facility.
(b) The state police shall immediately issue and publicly report a cease-and-desist order, when an unlawful polluting atmospheric activity 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 23-23.8-6.
23-23.8-5. Departmental notice to cease federal or foreign-approved programs.
(a) Where an activity deemed hazardous by this chapter has been approved, explicitly or implicitly, by the federal government or a government agency, the state police shall issue a notice to the appropriate federal authority, agency, entity, or academic institution that the polluting intervention cannot lawfully be carried out within or over the State of Rhode Island.
(b) Government agencies or projects, academic institutions, public or private entities, and armed forces operating within or above the State of Rhode Island shall meet all the requirements of this chapter.
23-23.8-6. Penalties and enforcement.
An entity that engages in a prohibited polluting atmospheric experiment and/or intervention under this chapter or person who uses an unmarked or unidentified aircraft or other vehicle or facility to carry out an experiment and/or intervention involving the release of pollutants, or who fails to comply with the regulations set forth:
(1) Has committed a felony and shall pay a fine of not less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or be imprisoned for not less than five (5) years, or both;
(2) Shall be guilty of a separate offense for each day during which violative activity has been conducted, repeated, or continued;
(3) Rhode Island state police shall deputize and train volunteer Rhode Island citizens to assist with the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.
(4) The Rhode Island state police or deputies shall investigate reports of SRM or radiation pollution to ensure compliance with the requirements of this chapter or the administrative regulations promulgated hereunder.
23-23.8-7. Investigatory findings -- Responses.
As established in this chapter, scientific dimensions of SRM include the use of interoperable ground-based, airborne, and space-based facilities involving the release of pollutants, including radiation. There are ever-increasing numbers of pollution-generating, microwave-irradiating instruments used in weather experimentation including, but not limited to, ground-based facilities interoperable with drones and satellites. Such infrastructures and the electrical grid are vulnerable to radiation pollution interference, EMP events and cyber-attacks, potentially leading to accidents, fatalities, damage to critical infrastructures, possible collapse of commerce systems and the failure of essential public utilities, costing the state billions of dollars. Therefore, irradiating infrastructure shall be subject to evaluation by an independent licensed radiofrequency (RF) engineer paid for by the facility owner. RF engineer shall provide findings in a report to be submitted to the Rhode Island state police, therefore:
(1) Radiation signal strength metered at the reported location is not to exceed -75 dBm (decibel-milliwatt) for any frequency or channel band specified by a transmitting entity's FCC transmission license; or, maximum power output limit from all frequencies/antennas from a wireless facility is not to exceed 0.1 watt of effective radiated power (ERP) so as to provide -75 dBm signal strength at 1/2 mile, or five (5) bars on a cell phone. If signal strength metered by RF engineer is in excess of -75 dBm (decibel-milliwatt), the facility operator has thirty (30) days to achieve compliance without disruption to performance of personal wireless services. The Rhode Island state police or deputies shall perform random testing from time to time to ensure facility compliance with this chapter. Failure to comply will result in a fine of not less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) per day for each day the facility is out of compliance. Deliberate falsification or altering of information shall be punished in accordance with Section 23-23.8-6(1) and (2). All public and private entities operating in the state shall comply with these guidelines.
(2) To reduce pollution and ensure the economic protection and privacy of Rhode Islanders, the safe and secure deployment of hardwired, fiber-optic connections to the premises (FTTP) to homes, schools, and businesses shall be required, thereby providing the ability to conduct financial transactions and complete lifesaving communications in the event that electronic interactions by existing means are compromised, hacked, restricted, or not possible. To safeguard the wellbeing of Rhode Islanders, consumer choice options, including non-wireless routers, non-wireless modems, and non-wireless mechanical analog utility meters, within home, property, or business shall be offered to customers without additional fees.
SECTION 3. Section 30-15-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 30-15 entitled "Emergency Management" is hereby amended to read as follows:
30-15-7. Governor's general powers.
The governor shall be responsible for carrying out the provisions of this chapter and shall be primarily responsible for emergency management in the state. Aside from powers granted to the governor elsewhere, the governor is hereby specifically authorized to:
(1) Issue executive orders, proclamations, and regulations and amend or rescind them. Executive orders, proclamations, and regulations, for the purposes of this chapter, have the force and effect of law;
(2) Cooperate with the federal authorities and with the governors and/or officials of the other states in matters pertaining to the common disaster preparedness of the states and nation, and in exercising the powers under this chapter, the governor shall avoid duplications of, and conflicts with, the efforts of the federal authorities acting within their proper spheres;
(3) Consider on a continuing basis steps that could be taken to prevent or reduce the harmful consequences of disasters. At the governor's direction, and pursuant to any other authority they now have, state agencies, including, but not limited to, those that are or may be charged with responsibilities in connection with flood plain management, stream encroachment and flow regulation, weather modification, fire prevention and control, air quality, public works, land use and land-use planning, and construction standards, shall make studies of disaster-prevention-related matters. The governor, from time to time, shall make recommendations to the general assembly, local governments, and other appropriate public and private entities as may facilitate measures for mitigation of the harmful consequences of disasters;
(4) Prepare a comprehensive plan and program for disasters (including response and recovery) in the state, the plan and program to be integrated into, and coordinated with, the response and disaster plans of other states to the fullest possible extent, and coordinate the preparation of plans and programs for disasters by the political subdivisions of the state, such plans to be integrated into, and coordinated with the state disaster plan and program to the fullest possible extent;
(5) In accordance with the plans and programs for disasters in the state, procure supplies and equipment, to institute training programs and public information programs, and to take all other preparatory steps, including the partial or full mobilization of disaster organizations in advance of actual disaster, to ensure the furnishing of adequately trained and equipped forces of disaster personnel in time of need;
(6) Delegate any administrative authority vested in the governor under this chapter and provide for the subsequent delegation of that authority; and
(7) Do all other things necessary to ensure adequate preparation for disasters in the state, not inconsistent with other provisions of law.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.
EXPLANATION BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
This act establishes the Rhode Island Clean Air Preservation Act that establishes a regulatory process to prohibit polluting atmospheric experimentation such as solar radiation modification (SRM), sunlight reflection methods (SRM), solar radiation management (SRM), geoengineering, weather modification, cloud seeding, or other atmospheric interventions involving the release of pollutants including Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) known also as "forever chemicals," within the state, providing penalties for violations.
This act would take effect upon passage.