Rhode Island : 2026 Regular Session : BILL H7422
Creates "the Rhode Island clean air preservation act."
Sponsor: Rep Evan Shanley & Rep Thomas Noret & Rep David Bennett & Rep Stephen Casey & Rep Michael Chippendale & Rep Julie Casimiro & Rep Robert Craven & Rep William O'Brien
Bill Details
HEALTH AND SAFETY -- THE RHODE ISLAND CLEAN AIR PRESERVATION ACT - Creates "the Rhode Island clean air preservation act."
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, and 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 -- notably -- artificial intelligence, which is listed as a type of "entity" subject to the law.
Enforcement structure: The bill creates a multi-agency enforcement regime involving three state bodies:
(1) The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), Division of Law Enforcement (DLE), is the primary enforcement agency. DEM/DLE must immediately issue a cease-and-desist order, with the weight of a court order, whenever an unlawful atmospheric activity is suspected. DEM must also establish an online portal and email address for citizen violation reports, create an intake and screening process for those reports, and promulgate rules to implement the chapter.
(2) The Rhode Island State Police (RISP) share enforcement authority. RISP must also create a separate online portal for citizens to report violations. RISP, along with its deputies and DEM environmental police, must investigate all credible reports of SRM and "related microwave radiation pollution."
(3) The Rhode Island Air National Guard (RI ANG) may be called upon to interdict violating aircraft -- including documenting tail numbers, securing photographic evidence, sampling aerosolised effluents, using mass spectrometers, and escorting aircraft to the nearest airport for investigation. DEM/DLE, RISP, and ANG must jointly develop an enforcement and referral policy within 90 days of enactment.
If RI ANG is federalised, the governor must form a state guard to defend Rhode Island's airspace.
Federal preemption challenge: If a federally approved activity is deemed hazardous under this chapter, the state police must issue a 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 with the chapter's requirements regardless of federal approval.
Penalties: Violations are classified as felonies, carrying a fine of $5,000 and a 5-year imprisonment. Each day of continued violated activity constitutes a separate offence.
Citizen reporting: Two separate online portals are mandated -- one through DEM and one through RISP -- for citizens to report observed or alleged violations. DEM must investigate reports warranting further review.
Training program: The Rhode Island Department of Labour and Training (DLT) must provide technical training and certification for independent contractors to verify reports of pollution.
Unusual provisions:
- Artificial intelligence is explicitly listed as a type of "entity" that can violate the law and be subject to penalties, raising the question of how an AI would be fined or imprisoned.
- The definition of "atmospheric contaminant" includes graphene-oxide, smart dust, motes, and "xenobiotic (foreign-to-life) electromagnetic radiation."
- "Pollutants" is defined expansively to include electromagnetic pulses, sound waves, light pollution, microwaves, and all artificially produced ionising or non-ionising radiation.
- The bill defines and regulates "satellite weather modification systems" and "irradiating infrastructure."
- The definition of "chaff" specifically references PFAS as an ingredient. "Outdoor pollution dispersion modelling" is listed as a type of prohibited intervention, potentially criminalising a standard environmental science practice.
- Two separate citizen reporting portals are required from different agencies, creating redundant systems.
- The bill contains a numbering error in Section 23-23.8-6, where subsection (d) is labeled "(5)" instead of "(d)."
Effective date: August 1, 2026.
History
H 7422 was introduced on January 30, 2026, by Representatives Shanley, Noret, Bennett, Casey, Chippendale, Casimiro, Craven, and O'Brien, and referred to the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee. The bill carries legislative council document number LC004132.
Rhode Island's 2026 regular session convened on January 6, 2026, with adjournment scheduled for June 30, 2026. The bill was filed within the first month of the session, giving it a full five months of potential committee consideration. With eight cosponsors -- a reasonably large group for the Rhode Island House -- the bill has a visible base of support, though committee assignment to Environment and Natural Resources is the expected routing for this subject matter. No further action beyond introduction and referral has been recorded.
- Fri 30 Jan 2026 Introduced, referred to House Environment and Natural Resources
- Thu 19 Feb 2026 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/26/2026)
- Thu 26 Feb 2026 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- Thu 26 Feb 2026 MEETING House Environment and Natural Resources Committee
Consolidated Bill Text
2026 -- H 7422
LC004132
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: Representatives Shanley, Noret, Bennett, Casey, Chippendale, Casimiro, Craven, and O'Brien
Date Introduced: January 30, 2026
Referred To: House Environment and Natural Resources
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Legislative intent.
(1) It is the intent of the General Assembly to ban Solar Radiation Modification (SRM), weather modification, and other polluting atmospheric experiments.
(2) Attempts to alter atmospheric conditions through cloud seeding, solar radiation modification (SRM), sunlight reflection methods (SRM), solar radiation management (SRM), geoengineering, and other weather modification experiments and/or interventions involve the release of pollutants, including Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), known also as "forever chemicals," into the atmosphere;
(3) Environmental accumulation of combustible agents contained in aerosol materials and other pollutants such as electromagnetic radiation released in atmospheric experiments and/or interventions threaten 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
(4) 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) which 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 nano-chaff 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; fund; 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) "Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)" means miniature devices combining electrical and mechanical components fabricated at the micrometer scale, used for sensing, actuation, or signal processing within larger electronic or biological systems.
(17) "Mote" means a self-contained wireless sensor unit, typically incorporating MEMS components, capable of collecting, storing, and transmitting environmental or biological data.
(18) "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.
(19) "Pollution" means the discharge, dispersal, deposition, injection, release, seepage, migration or escape of pollutants.
(20) "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.
(21) "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.
(22) "Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE)" means the RI agency responsible for investigating environmental crimes and enforcing state and federal regulations in order to ensure compliance with all environmental conservation laws through legal enforcement and education.
(23) "Rhode Island department of labor and training (DLT)" means the Rhode Island agency that provides workforce development, security, and protection to the state's workers, employers, and residents. It offers employment, educational, and economic opportunities to individuals and employers. DLT protects the workforce by enforcing labor laws, prevailing wage rates, and workplace health and safety standards.
(24) "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).
(25) "Satellite weather modification system (SWMS)" means weather modification by satellites involving 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.
(26) "Smart dust" is a millimeter to nanometer scale, self-contained microelectromechanical sensor (MEMS) system comprised of microscopic wireless sensors called "motes." Motes function as individual nodes within a larger smart dust network. Smart dust may operate autonomously or under artificial-intelligence control as part of the Internet of Things (IoT) or Internet of Bodies (IoB). Smart dust may be dispersed into the atmosphere, environment, or biological systems to monitor, collect, or transmit data.
(27) "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.
(28) "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.
(29) "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.
(30) "Weather modification" means any small-scale activity performed with the intention of producing artificial changes in the composition, behavior, or dynamics of the atmosphere.
23-23.8-3. 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) Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE) 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.
23-23.8-4. 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 department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE) or 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) Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE) and 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. Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE), RISP, and air national guard (ANG) shall develop a policy to determine the process for reporting and assessment of violations, referral to the national guard, and what the enforcement procedure is, within ninety (90) days after the enactment of this chapter.
(c) If deemed necessary, the RI air national guard may interdict, document identification tail numbers, secure photographic evidence, sample aerosolized effluents or particulates, utilize mass spectrometers and other appropriate scientific instrumentation, and engage with aircraft violating this section to escort them to the nearest airport for investigation, securing of evidence, and documentation of violation.
(d) Any person who observes a geoengineering or weather modification activity conducted in violation of this section may report the observed violation to DEM online or by telephone, mail, or email.
(e) The department shall establish an email address and an online portal for persons to report observed violations pursuant to this subsection. The department shall make the email address and online portal publicly accessible on its website.
(f) The department shall establish a method for intake and screening of the reports made pursuant to this subsection. The department shall investigate any report that warrants further review to determine whether there are violations of this section.
(g) The department shall refer reports of observed violations made pursuant to this subsection to the Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE), or RI ANG if appropriate.
(h) DEM shall promulgate any rules that are necessary to implement this section.
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.
(a) 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 five thousand dollars ($5,000) and be imprisoned for five (5) years; and
(2) May be guilty of a separate offense for each day during which violative activity has been conducted, repeated, or continued.
(b) Rhode Island state police shall create an online portal for private citizens to report alleged violations of the provisions of this chapter.
(c) The Rhode Island state police, deputies, and the Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) environmental police, shall investigate all credible reports of SRM and related microwave radiation pollution to ensure compliance with the requirements of this chapter or the administrative regulations promulgated herein.
(d) The Rhode Island department of labor and training (DLT) shall provide technical training and certification for independent contractors to verify reports of pollution in order to implement the provisions of this chapter.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on August 1, 2026.
EXPLANATION BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
This act would establish the Rhode Island clean air preservation act, which would establish a regulatory process to prohibit polluting atmospheric experimentation such as solar radiation management and modification, sunlight reflection, solar radiation management, and other forms of geoengineering and weather modification.
This act would take effect on August 1, 2026.
LC004132
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: Representatives Shanley, Noret, Bennett, Casey, Chippendale, Casimiro, Craven, and O'Brien
Date Introduced: January 30, 2026
Referred To: House Environment and Natural Resources
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Legislative intent.
(1) It is the intent of the General Assembly to ban Solar Radiation Modification (SRM), weather modification, and other polluting atmospheric experiments.
(2) Attempts to alter atmospheric conditions through cloud seeding, solar radiation modification (SRM), sunlight reflection methods (SRM), solar radiation management (SRM), geoengineering, and other weather modification experiments and/or interventions involve the release of pollutants, including Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), known also as "forever chemicals," into the atmosphere;
(3) Environmental accumulation of combustible agents contained in aerosol materials and other pollutants such as electromagnetic radiation released in atmospheric experiments and/or interventions threaten 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
(4) 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) which 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 nano-chaff 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; fund; 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) "Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)" means miniature devices combining electrical and mechanical components fabricated at the micrometer scale, used for sensing, actuation, or signal processing within larger electronic or biological systems.
(17) "Mote" means a self-contained wireless sensor unit, typically incorporating MEMS components, capable of collecting, storing, and transmitting environmental or biological data.
(18) "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.
(19) "Pollution" means the discharge, dispersal, deposition, injection, release, seepage, migration or escape of pollutants.
(20) "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.
(21) "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.
(22) "Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE)" means the RI agency responsible for investigating environmental crimes and enforcing state and federal regulations in order to ensure compliance with all environmental conservation laws through legal enforcement and education.
(23) "Rhode Island department of labor and training (DLT)" means the Rhode Island agency that provides workforce development, security, and protection to the state's workers, employers, and residents. It offers employment, educational, and economic opportunities to individuals and employers. DLT protects the workforce by enforcing labor laws, prevailing wage rates, and workplace health and safety standards.
(24) "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).
(25) "Satellite weather modification system (SWMS)" means weather modification by satellites involving 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.
(26) "Smart dust" is a millimeter to nanometer scale, self-contained microelectromechanical sensor (MEMS) system comprised of microscopic wireless sensors called "motes." Motes function as individual nodes within a larger smart dust network. Smart dust may operate autonomously or under artificial-intelligence control as part of the Internet of Things (IoT) or Internet of Bodies (IoB). Smart dust may be dispersed into the atmosphere, environment, or biological systems to monitor, collect, or transmit data.
(27) "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.
(28) "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.
(29) "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.
(30) "Weather modification" means any small-scale activity performed with the intention of producing artificial changes in the composition, behavior, or dynamics of the atmosphere.
23-23.8-3. 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) Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE) 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.
23-23.8-4. 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 department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE) or 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) Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE) and 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. Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE), RISP, and air national guard (ANG) shall develop a policy to determine the process for reporting and assessment of violations, referral to the national guard, and what the enforcement procedure is, within ninety (90) days after the enactment of this chapter.
(c) If deemed necessary, the RI air national guard may interdict, document identification tail numbers, secure photographic evidence, sample aerosolized effluents or particulates, utilize mass spectrometers and other appropriate scientific instrumentation, and engage with aircraft violating this section to escort them to the nearest airport for investigation, securing of evidence, and documentation of violation.
(d) Any person who observes a geoengineering or weather modification activity conducted in violation of this section may report the observed violation to DEM online or by telephone, mail, or email.
(e) The department shall establish an email address and an online portal for persons to report observed violations pursuant to this subsection. The department shall make the email address and online portal publicly accessible on its website.
(f) The department shall establish a method for intake and screening of the reports made pursuant to this subsection. The department shall investigate any report that warrants further review to determine whether there are violations of this section.
(g) The department shall refer reports of observed violations made pursuant to this subsection to the Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) division of law enforcement (DLE), or RI ANG if appropriate.
(h) DEM shall promulgate any rules that are necessary to implement this section.
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.
(a) 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 five thousand dollars ($5,000) and be imprisoned for five (5) years; and
(2) May be guilty of a separate offense for each day during which violative activity has been conducted, repeated, or continued.
(b) Rhode Island state police shall create an online portal for private citizens to report alleged violations of the provisions of this chapter.
(c) The Rhode Island state police, deputies, and the Rhode Island department of environmental management (DEM) environmental police, shall investigate all credible reports of SRM and related microwave radiation pollution to ensure compliance with the requirements of this chapter or the administrative regulations promulgated herein.
(d) The Rhode Island department of labor and training (DLT) shall provide technical training and certification for independent contractors to verify reports of pollution in order to implement the provisions of this chapter.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on August 1, 2026.
EXPLANATION BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
This act would establish the Rhode Island clean air preservation act, which would establish a regulatory process to prohibit polluting atmospheric experimentation such as solar radiation management and modification, sunlight reflection, solar radiation management, and other forms of geoengineering and weather modification.
This act would take effect on August 1, 2026.