HLS 25RS-388 ORIGINAL
2025 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 608
BY REPRESENTATIVE COATES AND SENATOR HODGES
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
ENVIRONMENT: Creates the Louisiana Atmospheric Protection Act
1 AN ACT
2To enact Chapter 24 of Subtitle II of Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, to
3 be comprised of R.S. 30:2591 through 2596, and to repeal Chapter 25 of Title 37 of
4 the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, comprised of R.S. 37:2201 through 2208,
5 relative to atmospheric and weather modification; to create the "Louisiana
6 Atmospheric Protection Act"; to create the "Atmospheric Protection Fund"; to
7 provide definitions; to prohibit weather modification activities; to provide oversight
8 and enforcement; to create penalties including imprisonment; and to provide for
9 related matters.
10Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
11 Section 1. Chapter 24 of Subtitle II of Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of
121950, comprised of R.S. 30:2591 through 2596, is hereby enacted to read as follows:
13 CHAPTER 24. LOUISIANA ATMOSPHERIC PROTECTION
14 §2591. Title and citation
15 This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Louisiana Atmospheric
16 Protection Act".
17 §2592. Definitions
18 The following terms, as used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise
19 requires, shall have the following meanings:
Page 1 of 9
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 25RS-388 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 608
1 (1) "Air National Guard" shall mean the Louisiana Air National Guard, the
2 aerial militia of the state of Louisiana, United States of America. It is an element of
3 the Louisiana National Guard as well as the Louisiana Army National Guard. As
4 state militia, Louisiana National Guard units are not typically part of the normal
5 United States Air Force chain of command unless federalized. They are under the
6 jurisdiction of the governor of Louisiana through the office of the Louisiana Adjutant
7 General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States.
8 In the event that the Louisiana National Guard is federalized, the governor shall form
9 a State Guard pursuant to R.S. 29:7.1 to defend Louisiana airspace.
10 (2) "Artificial intelligence" means a field of science and technology
11 encompassing systems and tools that can perform tasks typically requiring human
12 intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, pattern recognition, and decision making,
13 often through computational techniques like machine learning and neural networks.
14 (3) "Atmospheric activity" means any polluting experiment or intervention
15 conducted by any iteration of human or machine learning or artificial intelligence,
16 or any combination thereof, that occurs in the atmosphere and may have harmful
17 consequences on human health, the environment, or agriculture.
18 (4) "Cloud-seeding" is a type of weather engineering or experimentation that
19 may change the amount or type of precipitation by dispersing chemicals or chemical
20 compounds such as dry ice, silver iodine, or trimethylaluminum into the atmosphere
21 by means of aircraft or ground generators.
22 (5) "Entity" shall mean any of the following:
23 (a) Individual.
24 (b) Trust.
25 (c) Firm.
26 (d) Joint stock company.
27 (e) Corporation, including a quasi-governmental corporation.
28 (f) Nongovernmental organization.
29 (g) Public or private partnership.
Page 2 of 9
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 25RS-388 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 608
1 (h) Association.
2 (i) Syndicate.
3 (j) Municipality or municipal agency.
4 (k) Program.
5 (j) Fire district.
6 (k) Club.
7 (l) Nonprofit agency.
8 (m) Commission.
9 (n) University, college, or academic institution.
10 (o) Department or agency of this state.
11 (p) The federal government or any interstate or international governance or
12 instrumentality thereof, including foreign, domestic, and mercenary armed services
13 or region within the United States.
14 (q) Artificial intelligence.
15 (6) "Geoengineering" means the intentional large-scale alteration or
16 manipulation of the environment, typically involving the release of aerosols,
17 chemicals, chemical compounds, electromagnetic radiation or other physical agents
18 that increase air pollution and effect changes to earth's atmosphere or surface,
19 inclusive of solar radiation modification, sunlight reflection methods, stratospheric
20 aerosol injection, cirrus cloud thinning, marine cloud brightening, or cloud-seeding.
21 (7) "Hazard" means a process, substance, or physical agent that by its nature
22 is harmful to living organisms generally, to property, or to any other interest of
23 value.
24 (8) "Intervention" means the act of interfering with weather processes or
25 altering atmospheric or environmental conditions by releasing pollutants by methods
26 including but not limited to solar radiation modification, stratospheric aerosol
27 injection, marine cloud brightening, cirrus cloud thinning, weather modification,
28 cloud-seeding, or outdoor pollution dispersion modeling.
Page 3 of 9
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 25RS-388 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 608
1 (9) "Machine learning" means the process in which a machine can learn on
2 its own without being explicitly programmed.
3 (10) "Physical agent" means an agent, other than a substance, including but
4 not limited to radio frequency and microwave radiation and other electromagnetic
5 radiation and fields, barometric pressure, temperature, gravity, kinetic or de facto
6 weaponry, mechanical vibrations, and sound.
7 (11) "Pollutant" means any solid, liquid, gaseous, or thermal irritant,
8 contaminant or substance, including smoke, vapor, soot, fumes, aerosol, acid, alkalis,
9 chemicals, chemical compounds, smart dust, artificially produced electric fields,
10 magnetic fields, electromagnetic fields, electromagnetic pulse, sound waves, sound
11 pollution, light pollution, microwaves and all artificially produced ionizing or
12 non-ionizing radiation or waste.
13 (12) "Pollution" means the discharge, dispersal, deposition, release, seepage,
14 migration, or escape of pollutants.
15 (13) "Release" means any activity that results in the issuance of
16 contaminants such as the emitting, transmitting, discharging, or injecting of one or
17 more nuclear, biological, trans-biological, chemical or physical agents into the
18 ambient atmosphere, whether once, intermittently, or continuously.
19 (14) "Sheriff" means a Louisiana sheriff with the authority to enforce the
20 laws of the state.
21 (15) "Solar radiation modification" means an experiment in the earth's
22 climatic system involving the release of pollutants that reduces the amount of
23 sunlight reaching the earth's surface. Scientific dimensions of solar radiation
24 modification include the use of interoperable ground-based, airborne, and
25 space-based facilities.
26 (16) "State guard" means a state defense force in addition to, and distinct
27 from, the Louisiana State Guard as authorized under Louisiana state law under R.S.
28 29:5.
29 (17) "Waste" means materials to be recycled, reconditioned, or reclaimed.
Page 4 of 9
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 25RS-388 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 608
1 (18) "Weather engineering" means the deliberate manipulation or alteration
2 of the environment for the purpose of changing the weather or climate by artificial
3 means, typically involving the deliberate release of pollutants in the atmosphere via
4 cloud-seeding, for small-scale, large-scale and global-scale alteration of the
5 environment.
6 (19) "Weather modification" means changing, controlling or interfering with
7 or attempting to change, control, or interfere with the natural development of cloud
8 forms, precipitation, barometric pressure, temperature, conductivity, or other
9 electromagnetic or sonic characteristics of the atmosphere.
10 §2593. Prohibition
11 A. No person or entity shall engage in or permit the use of solar radiation
12 modification, weather modification, cloud-seeding, or any other atmospheric
13 pollution for the purpose of atmospheric experiments or interventions through the
14 use of aircraft, balloons, a space-based platform, ground generators, or an
15 interoperable ground-based facility.
16 B. A law enforcement officer shall issue a written cease and desist order to
17 the offender if the officer reasonably suspects that a violation of Subsection A of this
18 Section has occurred.
19 C. Whoever violates the provisions of Subsection A of this Section shall be
20 punished as follows:
21 (1) Upon a first violation, the offender shall be issued a cease and desist
22 order. In addition, the offender may be fined not less than ten thousand dollars,
23 imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than one year, or both.
24 (2) Upon a second or subsequent violation, the offender shall be fined not
25 less than five hundred thousand dollars, imprisoned for not less than two years at
26 hard labor, or both.
27 D. Each day that a violation occurs under the provisions of this Section shall
28 be considered a separate violation.
Page 5 of 9
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 25RS-388 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 608
1 E. Prosecution for a violation of this Section shall not be a defense against
2 prosecution under any other provision of law.
3 §2594. General rule
4 A. Government and armed forces projects shall meet all the requirements of
5 this Chapter. If an activity deemed a hazard by this Chapter has been approved,
6 explicitly or implicitly, by the federal government, the Louisiana state police or law
7 enforcement officer shall issue a notice to the appropriate federal agency that the
8 activity cannot lawfully be carried out within or over the state of Louisiana.
9 B. The Louisiana state police or law enforcement officer is authorized to and
10 shall implement this Chapter, determining whether violations have occurred and if
11 deemed necessary shall refer potentially prohibited activity to the Louisiana Air
12 National Guard or State Guard.
13 §2595. Infrastructure requirements
14 A. As established in this Chapter, scientific dimensions of solar radiation
15 modification include the use of interoperable ground-based, airborne, and
16 space-based facilities involving the release of pollutants including radiation.
17 B. There are ever-increasing numbers of pollution-generating,
18 microwave-irradiating instruments used in weather experimentation, including but
19 not limited to ground-based facilities interoperable with drones and satellites. The
20 infrastructure and the electrical grid are susceptible to radiation interference and
21 cyber-attacks, potentially leading to accidents, fatalities, damage to critical
22 infrastructure, possible collapse of commerce systems and the failure of essential
23 public utilities, costing the state billions of dollars. Therefore, communications
24 infrastructure shall be subject to evaluation by an independent licensed radio
25 frequency engineer paid for by the facility owner. This evaluation must be
26 completed by January 1, 2026 and then annually on each January 1st thereafter. The
27 radio frequency engineer shall provide findings in a report to be submitted to the
28 local sheriff. Radiation signal strength metered at the reported location shall not
29 exceed -75 dBm (decibel-milliwatt) for any frequency or channel band specified by
Page 6 of 9
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 25RS-388 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 608
1 a transmitting entity’s Federal Communications Commission transmission license;
2 or, maximum power output limit from all frequencies and antennas from a wireless
3 facility shall not exceed 0.1 watts of effective radiated power so as to provide -75
4 dBm signal strength at a half mile, or five bars on a cell phone. If signal strength
5 metered by a radio frequency engineer is in excess of -75 dBm (decibel-milliwatt),
6 the facility operator has thirty days to achieve compliance without disruption to
7 performance of personal wireless services. Failure to comply will result in a fine of
8 not less than five hundred thousand dollars per day for each day the facility is out of
9 compliance. All public and private entities operating in the state must comply with
10 these guidelines.
11 C. To ensure the economic protection and privacy of residents of the state
12 of Louisiana, the safe and secure deployment of hard-wired, fiber-optic connections
13 to the premises of homes, schools, and businesses shall be required, thereby
14 providing the ability to conduct financial transactions and complete life-saving
15 communications in the event that electronic interactions by existing means are
16 compromised, restricted, or otherwise not possible. To safeguard privacy, consumer
17 choice options including non-wireless routers, modems, and mechanical analog
18 utility meters, within a home, property, or business shall be offered to customers
19 without additional fees.
20 §2596. Atmospheric protection fund
21 A. There is hereby created in the state treasury as a special fund the
22 Atmospheric Protection Fund, hereinafter referred to in this Section as the "fund".
23 Monies transferred to the fund shall be deposited by the state treasurer after
24 compliance with the requirements of Article VII, Section 9(B) of the Constitution of
25 Louisiana relative to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund. Monies in the fund
26 shall be invested in the same manner as monies in the state general fund, and
27 unexpended and unencumbered monies in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall
28 remain in the fund. Interest earned on the investment of monies in the fund shall be
29 deposited in and credited to the fund.
Page 7 of 9
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 25RS-388 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 608
1 B. All money collected as fines under this Chapter shall be deposited into the
2 Atmospheric Protection Fund.
3 Section 2. Chapter 25 of Title 37 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950,
4comprised of R.S. 37:2201 through 2208, is hereby repealed.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 608 Original 2025 Regular Session Coates
Abstract: Creates the "Louisiana Atmospheric Protection Act" to prohibit weather
modification activities, provides oversight and enforcement, and creates penalties.
Proposed law creates the "Louisiana Atmospheric Protection Act" and provides definitions
for "Air National Guard", "artificial intelligence", "atmospheric activity", "cloud-seeding",
"entity", "geoengineering", "hazard", "intervention", "machine learning", "physical agent",
"pollutant", "pollution", "release", "sheriff", "solar radiation modification", "State Guard",
"waste", "weather engineering", and "weather modification".
Proposed law prohibits the government or armed forces from violating the provisions of
proposed law and authorized state police or sheriffs to enforce it.
Proposed law provides that if government or armed forces projects are being performed that
are prohibited by proposed law, notice must be provided to the entity by La. state police or
law enforcement officer that the project is unlawful and to refer the entity to the La. National
Guard or State Guard if needed.
Proposed law provides penalties for any entity or individual who engages in a polluting
atmospheric intervention or any entity or individual who uses an unmarked or unidentified
aircraft or other vehicle or facility to carry out solar radiation modification, stratospheric
aerosol injection, geoengineering, weather modification, cloud-seeding, or any other
polluting atmospheric intervention.
Proposed law requires a law enforcement officer issue a cease and desist order if he
reasonably suspects a violation of proposed law has occurred.
Proposed law provides penalties for violations of proposed law of:
(1)For a first violation, the offender will receive a mandatory cease and desist order and
an optional fine of up to $1,000 or a six month prison sentence or both.
(2)For a second or subsequent violation, the offender will receive a fine of at least
$500,000 or up to two years in prison or both.
Proposed law creates the "Atmospheric Protection Fund" and provides for all fines collected
under proposed law to be deposited into the fund.
Proposed law provides that each day a violation of proposed law occurs, it is considered a
separate violation and that prosecution under proposed law cannot be used as a defense
against any other provision of present law.
Page 8 of 9
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 25RS-388 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 608
Present law declares the state's rights to utilize the moisture contained in the clouds and
atmosphere within the state boundaries and prohibits anyone from engaging in weather
modification without obtaining a permit from the commissioner of the La. Dept. of
Agriculture and Forestry.
Proposed law repeals present law.
Present law defines "weather modification" and "commissioner" as used in present law.
Proposed law repeals present law.
Present law provides for the licensing qualifications and evaluations, fees, and penalties for
engaging in weather modification.
Proposed law repeals present law.
(Adds R.S. 30:2591-2596; Repeals R.S. 37:2201-2208)
Page 9 of 9
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.