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

• Published date: 20 September 2024
• FR Document: 2024-21567
• Citation: 89 FR 77057
• Pages: 77057-77057
• Section: Proposed rules
• Issuer: Commerce Department,National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration

Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 183 (Friday, September 20, 2024)

[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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