WEATHER MODIFICATION MONDAY, MARCH 21, 1966 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND POWER RESOURCES OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR Affairs, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10 a.m., in room 3110, New Senate Office Building, Senator Clinton P. Anderson (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Clinton P. Anderson (New Mexico), Henry M. Jackson (Washington), Frank E. Moss (Utah), Gordon Állott (Colorado), and Len B. Jordan (Idaho). Present also: Senator George McGovern (South Dakota). Professional staff present: Jerry T. Verkler, staff director; Stewart French, chief counsel; Roy M. Whitacre, professional staff member; Frederick O. Frederickson, special counsel, and E. Lewis Reid, minority counsel. Senator ANDERSON. The hearings we are opening today on S. 2875 are, so far as I am concerned, the continuation of a 15-year effort to accelerate weather modification research. I am looking forward to the hearings with considerable interest, for I see on the witness list men I met in 1951 in the General Electric Laboratories, when I journeyed there then with a subcommittee of this committee to learn something of the work in this field which Dr. Langmuir, Dr. Vonnegut, and Dr. Schaeffer were conducting. If I am not mistaken, I also met some of the other witnesses at about that same time. In order to avoid taking time from witnesses this morning, the subcommittee several days ago printed a statement of the background and purposes of this hearing. It has been supplied to the witnesses for any guidance it might give them, and to other interested parties. If there is no objection, I shall include it in the record this morning as my opening statement and anyone not familiar with its contents can obtain a copy from the staff. I would like to say that some time ago, when it became known that the National Academy of Sciences and National Science Foundation panels were recommending accelerated weather modification research work, I was joined by Senator George McGovern, of South Dakota, in a request to the Department of the Interior for assistance in developing an appropriate program to implement that report insofar as the Interior Department's mission is concerned. Such a program was developed and supplied to us. It became the basis of S. 2875, which was drafted by a member of our staff. 1 The program and the bill were developed over a period of several weeks. We had the help of some mighty fine scientists in preparing the program and the bill. I believe the bill will require some perfecting amendments, but as these hearings open I would like to testify that I feel it is a solidly based point of beginning for the consideration of our next steps in what, to my personal knowledge, is at least a 15-yearold effort to speed up the search for ways to tap the water resources of the atmosphere. A copy of S. 2875, the report thereof, and the statement of background and purpose, follow. (The documents referred to follow :) [S. 2875, 89th Cong., 2d sess.] A BILL To authorize and direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a comprehensive program of scientific and engineering research, experiments, tests, and operations for increasing the yield of water from atmospheric sources Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. As one means of assuring supplies of water adequate in quantity and quality to meet the requirements of the Nation's growing population and economy, it is the policy of the Congress to provide for effective beneficial utilization of atmospheric water resources through a coordinated program of research and operations. SEC. 2. As used in this Act, words and phrases are defined as follows: (a) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior; (b) "Atmospheric water" means water in fluid, gaseous, crystalline, or other state, in clouds, vapors, or any other form, located at any distance above the surface of the earth; (c) "Comprehensive program" means the program of research and operations for accomplishment of the purposes of this Act, and any revisions, supplements, or additions to it. TITLE I-THE COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM SEC. 100. The Secretary of the Interior shall formulate and carry out a comprehensive program of scientific and engineering research, experiments, tests, and operations directed at increasing the yield of water from atmospheric sources for beneficial uses in all regions of the United States, giving due regard to the relation of anticipated specific and general benefits to the costs of securing such increased atmospheric water yields, to the legal rights of interests that may be affected, and to other relevant matters. The comprehensive program may include, without being limited to, tests for improvement of present systems of cloud seeding or other methods of inducing precipitation; mathematical or other scientific analyses of clouds and cloud systems, and of the general continental or hemispheric circulation; engineering and other technical work for designing and developing equipment for identifying and modifying atmospheric water processes; economic, legal, and other research needed for planning and executing atmospheric water operations; and the training of scientists and engineers in atmospheric water resources research and operations. The aim of the comprehensive program is to develop and utilize techniques for controlling precipitation so as to increase the Nation's total benefits from its atmospheric water resources, and the program shall take full advantage of all of the Nation's scientific and technical capability, public and private, governmental, academic, and industrial that can be brought to bear on the problem. SEC. 101. In formulation and execution of the comprehensive program, the Secretary shall request the advice and participation of all Federal agencies that have scientific or engineering competence related to atmospheric water matters, and all such Federal agencies are directed to participate in said comprehensive program on the basis of agreements with the Secretary. SEC. 102. The Secretary may provide by contracts, grants, or other arrangements that he determines to be suitable, for participation in the formulation and execution of the comprehensive program by educational institutions, private foundations and other institutions, private firms and individuals, and local and State government agencies, and such participation may include training in the 1 sciences related to atmospheric water resources and in engineering and other technological aspects of increasing the yield of water from atmospheric sources. SEC. 103. The Secretary shall establish and operate, or arrange for the establishment and/or operation of (a) a scientific and engineering facility which shall be the central planning, analytic, and administrative center for the comprehensive program; (b) regional scientific and engineering research and operations centers; and (c) such other temporary, mobile, or special purpose facilities as may be necessary and proper for accomplishment of the comprehensive program. SEC. 104. The Secretary may arrange for the performance of scientific, engineering, or other portions of the comprehensive program by other Federal agencies on the basis of agreements, as provided in section 101 of this Act; and such agreements may include, among other things, provision for transfer to such agencies of funds appropriated to the Secretary. SEC. 105. Contracts, grant agreements, or other arrangements for participation in the comprehensive program by educational institutions, private foundations and other institutions, private firms and individuals, and local and State government agencies pursuant to section 102 of this Act may include provision for the right to use, with or without charge, real or personal property, or patents copyrights, processes, inventions, or interests therein: Provided, That such agreements or other arrangements with educational institutions may included transfer to such educational institutions of the title to ownership of property determined by the Secretary to be useful for research and the training of scientists and engineers in the fields of atmospheric water resources. SEC. 106. Not later than the first day of March of each year beginning one year after enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall report to the Congress on the status of the comprehensive program, including (a) summaries of the results of research, experiments, test, and operations; and (b) plans for such activities during the remainder of the comprehensive program; and such annual report shall be accompanied by the comments of the Water Resources Council established pursuant to the Act of July 22, 1965 (79 Stat. 244). TITLE II-AUTHORIZATIONS AND LIMITATIONS SEC. 200. The Secretary may, for accomplishment of the comprehensive program, acquire by purchase, lease, gift, or by other means (including transfer of Federal property), real and personal property or interests therein, patents, copyrights, processes, devices, inventions, or rights, to use thereof: Provided, That he may dispose of such property, rights, or interests only as provide by section 105 of this Act unless otherwise authorized by Act of Congress. SEC. 201. The United States will compensate for the taking of property or rights, or for damage, injury, or for other just claims arising out of execution of the comprehensive program in the manner provided in the Act of August 30, 1954, an Act to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1946. SEC. 202, Activities intended to affect, or determined by the Secretary to be likely to affect, the atmospheric water resources of the United States may be carried on only pursuant to license issued by the Secretary in the same manner as licenses issued pursuant to the Act of August 30, 1954. SEC. 203. No part of any appropriated funds may be expended pursuant to authorization given by this Act for any scientific or technological research or development activity unless such expenditure is conditioned upon provisions determined by the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the Attorney General, to be effective to insure that all information, uses, products, processes, patents, and other developments resulting from that activity will (with such exceptions and limitations as the Secretary may determine, after consultation with the Seccretary of Defense, to be necessary in the interest of the national defense) be made freely and fully available to the general public. Nothing contained in this section shall deprive the owner of any background patent relating to any such activity of any rights which that owner may have under that patent. SEC. 204. Except as provided in section 202 of this Act, nothing in this Act is intended to give or shall be construed as giving the Secretary of the Interior any authority or surveillance over water resources research or meteorological or atmospheric research conducted by other agencies of the Federal Government under authorization other than this Act; or as repealing, superseding, or diminishing existing authorities of any agency of the Federal Government to plan, conduct, contract for, or assist research or operation in its areas of responsibility and concern. SEC. 205. There is authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this Act not to exceed $35,000,000 for the first year after enactment of this Act, not to exceed $50,000,000 for the second year, not to exceed $70,000,000 for the third year, and such sums thereafter as may be necessary. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Hon. HENRY M. JACKSON, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., March 18, 1966. Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, DEAR SENATOR JACKSON: This responds to your request for the views of this Department on S. 2875, a bill to authorize and direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a comprehensive program of scientific and engineering research, experiments, tests, and operations for increasing the yield of water from atmospheric sources. S. 2875 authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Interior to formulate and carry out a comprehensive program of research and operations directed at increasing the yield of water from atmospheric sources for beneficial use in all regions of the United States. It is broad in scope, designed to provide this Department with authority for establishing programs dealing with all aspects of atmospheric water operations. The bill authorizes the Secretary to request and receive assistance from other Federal agencies, and authorizes contracts, grants, and other arrangements with other organizations and institutions, including academic training. It authorizes the establishment of an analytical and administrative center for the comprehensive program, and of regional scientific and engineering research and operations centers, together with other facilities necessary to carry out the program. The bill authorizes annual reports to the Congress on the status of the comprehensive program, including summaries of research already completed and future plans, to be accompanied by the comments of the Water Resources Council. Title II of the bill authorizes the Secretary to acquire property and to dispose of that property to educational institutions. It requires the United States to compensate for the taking of property, and for the payment of claims arising from the program in the manner provided in the amendments to the Atomic Energy Act dated August 30, 1954. It further requires that such activities shall take place only upon license in the same manner as licenses issued pursuant to the act of August 30, 1954, and limits the expenditure of funds for research or development to cases where results of such research and activity shall be made available to the general public. The bill specifically states that it is not intended to give this Department increased authority over programs of other Federal agencies and does not limit those programs in any way. The bill authorizes appropriations not to exceed $35 million for the first year after its enactment, not to exceed $50 million after the second year, not to exceed $70 million for the third year, and such sums thereafter as may be necessary. The bill is ambitious in scope and indicates thoughtful consideration of the many issues involved in the establishment of an effective atmospheric water resources program. The recent reports of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation on the feasibility of weather modification indicate that we are rapidly approaching a time when we can begin to employ effective techniques to use the atmosphere as a source of water supply. The development of those techniques has been a matter of great interest to this Department, which has in fact played a substantial role in this activity. The Bureau of Reclamation instituted a program several years ago which has since been substantially augmented and increased. The appropriation this year is $2.98 million; the budget for next year's program is $3 million. Concurrent with the development of more effective techniques of weather modification has come the realization that these techniques cannot and should not be confined by geographical limitations. There is a clear need to develop techniques of inducing and augmenting precipitation in the West. The need is no less clear as it applies to other parts of the country. One need only consider the situation of the drought stricken East last year to conclude that this Nation's |