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AN ACT relating to geoengineering. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 512 IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
The General Assembly hereby finds and declares that: 5
(1) Geoengineering, including but not limited to solar radiation modification, 6
weather modification, stratospheric aerosol injection, and other forms of 7
atmospheric polluting intervention: 8
(a) Endangers human health and safety and the environment; 9
(b) Threatens air, water, soil, and wildlife resources; 10
(c) Disrupts agricultural operations; and 11
(d) Potentially interferes with aviation, state security, and the economy of the 12
Commonwealth; 13
(2) Pursuant to the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and 14
the inherent right for Kentucky citizens to engage in thoughtful deliberation and 15
determine public policy by voting, the citizens of the Commonwealth do not 16
consent to any unconstitutional actions or efforts made by the federal government 17
or international bodies that release atmospheric contaminants into the 18
Commonwealth's atmosphere through geoengineering, solar radiation 19
modification, cloud seeding, weather modification, or any other means; 20
(3) As recognized by the World Meteorological Organization in guidelines it adopted 21
in 2017, weather modification activities should not be undertaken without 22
considering the high levels of uncertainty involved and the potential harm that 23
could result; and 24
(4) To preserve the safe and healthful uses of the Commonwealth's atmosphere for 25
its people, environment, wildlife, and agriculture, and to improve beneficial 26
climate efforts, it is necessary to prohibit geoengineering, including but not 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 125
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limited to solar radiation modification, and to provide for enforcement and 1
penalties for violative activities. 2
SECTION 2. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 512 IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
As used in Sections 1 to 3 of this Act: 5
(1) "Artificial intelligence" means systems or machines that mimic human 6
intelligence to perform tasks and that can iteratively improve themselves based on 7
the information they collect; 8
(2) (a) "Atmospheric contaminant" means any type of aerosol, biological, 9
nonbiological, or hazardous agent, chaff, chemical, chemical compound, 10
genetically modified agent, metal, radioactive material, substance, vapor, 11
electromagnetic radiation or field, mechanical vibration, particulate of any 12
size, or any air pollutant regulated by the Commonwealth, and any 13
combination thereof. 14
(b) "Atmospheric contaminant" does not include engine exhaust from an 15
aircraft using unadulterated certified aviation fuel; 16
(3) "Atmospheric polluting intervention" means any manipulation or interference 17
with earth's natural systems or processes by altering atmospheric or 18
environmental conditions, including but not limited to: 19
(a) Stratospheric aerosol injection; 20
(b) Cloud seeding; 21
(c) Solar radiation modification; and 22
(d) The release of an atmospheric contaminant by any human, or by artificial 23
intelligence, or any combination thereof, that occurs in the atmosphere and 24
that may have harmful consequences on human health, the environment, or 25
agriculture; 26
(4) "Chaff" means aluminum-coated silica glass fibers, typically dispersed in 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 125
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bundles containing millions of inhalable fibers, which break apart and fall to the 1
ground; 2
(5) "Cloud seeding" means a type of weather modification that attempts to change 3
the amount or type of precipitation from a cloud by dispersing any one (1) or 4
more atmospheric contaminants into the air; 5
(6) "Geoengineering" means the intentional manipulation of the environment, 6
through an atmospheric polluting intervention, to effect changes to the earth's 7
atmosphere or surface, including but not limited to the practices of weather 8
modification, solar radiation modification, stratospheric aerosol injection, and 9
cloud seeding; 10
(7) "Hazardous" means a substance, apparatus, activity, or physical agent that by its 11
nature is harmful to living organisms, property, or any other valuable interest; 12
(8) "Person" means any natural person, trust, firm, joint stock company, 13
corporation, quasi-governmental corporation, nongovernmental organization, 14
public or private partnership, association, syndicate, club, college, university, any 15
agency, subdivision, or instrumentality of federal, state, or local government, or 16
any interstate or international governance body; 17
(9) "Physical agent" means a source of energy that may cause injury through 18
excessive exposure, including but not limited to radiofrequency, microwave, and 19
other electromagnetic radiation and fields, barometric pressure, temperature, 20
gravity, mechanical vibration, and sound; 21
(10) "Release" means any activity that results in the issuance of atmospheric 22
contaminants such as the emitting, transmitting, discharging, or injecting of one 23
(1) or more nuclear, biological, chemical, or physical agents into the ambient 24
atmosphere, whether once, intermittently, or continuously; 25
(11) "Solar radiation modification" means an experiment in the earth's climatic 26
system involving the release of atmospheric contaminants that reduce the amount 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 125
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of sunlight reaching the earth's surface through the use of interoperable ground-1
based, airborne, space-based, or other facilities; 2
(12) "Stratospheric aerosol injection" means the release of reflective sulfate or other 3
aerosol substances in the stratosphere by high altitude planes, balloons, high-4
altitude blimps, artillery, or any other means; and 5
(13) "Weather modification" means the changing, controlling, or interfering with or 6
attempting to change, control, or interfere with the natural development of cloud 7
forms, precipitation, barometric pressure, temperature, conductivity or other 8
electromagnetic or sonic characteristics of the atmosphere. 9
SECTION 3. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 512 IS CREATED TO 10
READ AS FOLLOWS: 11
(1) A person is guilty of criminal atmospheric pollution when he or she intentionally 12
or wantonly engages in any atmospheric polluting intervention. 13
(2) Criminal atmospheric pollution shall be a Class D felony. Notwithstanding KRS 14
534.030 and 534.050, and in addition to any other penalties that may apply, a 15
person guilty of criminal atmospheric pollution shall pay a civil penalty of not 16
less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000). Each day that a person 17
engages in criminal atmospheric pollution shall be considered a separate offense. 18
(3) All peace officers of the Commonwealth shall enforce the requirements of this 19
section, and a citizen may make a complaint to any peace officer or local law 20
enforcement official relating to any suspected violation of this section. 21
(4) If any criminal atmospheric pollution has been approved, explicitly or implicitly, 22
by a federal government agency or official, the arresting officer shall issue a 23
notice to the appropriate federal agency or official that the criminal atmospheric 24
pollution intervention cannot lawfully be carried out within or over the 25
Commonwealth. 26