[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 183 (Friday, September 20, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 77057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21567]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

15 CFR Part 908


Notice of Receipt and Request for Public Comment on Petition for 
Rulemaking Regarding Maintaining Records and Submitting Reports on 
Weather Modification Activities

AGENCY: Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Receipt of petition for rulemaking; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: On March 12, 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (``NOAA'') received a petition from the Environment, 
Energy & Natural Resources Center at the University of Houston Law 
Center, the Institute for Responsible Carbon Management, and a 
collection of environmental law professors and environmental policy 
experts (collectively ``Petitioners'') to amend NOAA's reporting 
regulations under the Weather Modification Reporting Act of 1972. 
Through this notification, NOAA seeks comment on the topics contained 
in the petition, as well as any data or information that could be used 
in the Agency's determination whether to grant the petition. By seeking 
comment on whether to grant this petition, NOAA takes no position at 
this time regarding the merits of the suggested rulemaking or the 
assertions in the petition.

DATES: Comments must be received by November 19, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-OAR-2024-0091, by Electronic Submission. Submit all electronic 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA-OAR-2024-0091 in the Search box. 
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter 
or attach your comments.
    Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or 
individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be 
considered by NOAA. All comments received are a part of the public 
record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name and address), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NOAA will accept anonymous 
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain 
anonymous).
    An electronic copy of the petition is available in the docket on 
regulations.gov by searching NOAA-OAR-2024-0091.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessie Carman, 202-381-7037.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Weather Modification Reporting Act of 1972, 15 U.S.C. 330 et 
seq. (Pub. L. 92-205), requires that all persons who ``engage, or 
attempt to engage, in any weather modification activity in the United 
States'' report such activities to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce ``in 
such form and containing such information, as the Secretary may by rule 
prescribe.'' 15 U.S.C. 330a; see also 15 CFR part 908.
    The National Weather Modification Policy Act of 1976, 15 U.S.C. 330 
note (Pub. L. 94-490), directed the Secretary to study ``the state of 
scientific knowledge concerning weather modification, the present state 
of development of weather modification technology, the problems 
impeding effective implementation of weather modification technology, 
and other related matters.'' 15 U.S.C. 330 note. It was the declared 
purpose of Congress ``to develop a comprehensive and coordinated 
national weather modification policy and a national program of weather 
modification research and development[.]'' Id.
    The Administrative Procedure Act (``APA''), 5 U.S.C. 551 et seq., 
provides that ``[e]ach agency shall give an interested person the right 
to petition for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule.'' 5 
U.S.C. 553(e). On March 12, 2024, NOAA received a request from 
Petitioners to amend NOAA's reporting regulations under the Weather 
Modification Reporting Act of 1972 ``to expand and clarify their 
application to [ ] private Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) 
activities.'' The petition describes SRM as including, but not limited 
to, the injection of aerosol and aerosol precursors into the 
stratosphere or into marine stratocumulus clouds in efforts to cool 
Earth's surface by increasing Earth's albedo.

Request for Information

    NOAA solicits public comment on the petition for rulemaking to 
amend NOAA's reporting regulations under the Weather Modification 
Reporting Act. NOAA is particularly interested in (1) how NOAA should 
update 15 CFR part 908 reporting requirements to account for solar 
radiation modification experiments, (2) what reporting requirements 
NOAA should include regarding potential and/or measured environmental 
impacts of weather modification experiments given the state of the 
science and current detection capabilities, (3) the spatial scale of 
weather modification experiments and their intended effects for which 
NOAA should request in submitted reports, and (4) whether, under 
existing statutory authorities, NOAA should pursue a broader regulatory 
strategy for solar radiation modification research and experimentation. 
NOAA will consider public comments received in determining whether to 
proceed with the petition's requested revisions. Upon determining 
whether to initiate the requested rulemaking, NOAA will publish in the 
Federal Register the Agency's notice of proposed rulemaking with a 
request for public comment.

    Dated: July 30, 2024.
David Holst,
CFO/CAO for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration.

    Editorial Note: The Office of the Federal Register received this 
document on September 17, 2024.

[FR Doc. 2024-21567 Filed 9-19-24; 8:45 am]
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