Idaho H0669 would shut down the state's entire cloud seeding program, which currently costs approximately $3 million annually, and make any weather modification activity a felony, carrying a five-year prison sentence and a $100,000 fine. Unlike many prohibition bills that simply ban geoengineering, this bill systematically strips cloud-seeding authority from multiple sections of Idaho water law and cites a 2024 GAO report questioning the effectiveness of cloud seeding as its factual basis.
Never assigned an initial committee
Idaho H0977 does not ban cloud seeding outright but strips the Water Resource Board of its authority to run programs unilaterally, requiring explicit legislative sign-off for any future activity and imposing felony-level penalties on anyone who proceeds without it. In an unusual move, the bill writes a 2024 federal audit's finding — that cloud seeding's effectiveness is statistically indistinguishable from zero — directly into state law as a legislative finding.
Never assigned a committee
Idaho's HJM015 is a congressional petition, not a law — it creates no enforceable rules within the state but instead formally asks the federal government to criminalise geoengineering over Idaho's skies and require state consent before any atmospheric modification program can operate. Notably, the memorial invokes the Tenth Amendment as a constitutional basis for state sovereignty over airspace, and explicitly calls for felony-level federal criminal penalties for violations conducted without state approval.
Missed crossover - Remained in Environment, Energy & Technology committee
Idaho HJM018 is a joint memorial — a formal request to Congress, not a law — that asks the federal government to ban solar geoengineering over Idaho and to make it a felony. It carries no legal force on its own, but signals where the Idaho Legislature stands on the issue.
House adopted, but remained in Senate Resources & Environment Committee
Idaho S1269 adds transparency guardrails to the state's established cloud seeding program, requiring public meetings, annual environmental impact reports, and monthly operator reporting — while notably narrowing the program's existing absolute liability shield by allowing claims based on gross negligence or willful misconduct.