need for a dependable supply of usable water is in no sense confined to the arid West. The Department of the Interior holds major national water resources responsibilities. The Water Resources Council, under the chairmanship of the Secretary of the Interior, has been given basic water resource planning responsibilities. This Department has recently greatly expanded its saline water program, and has major responsibilties in the development of water resources research centers throughout the country. The clean rivers restoration bill, recently introduced into the Congress, is yet another example of the responsibilities contemplated for this Department. The executive branch is considering a reorganization plan that would transfer some responsibilities and functions in the weather modification field. Although the proposed reorganization plan would not transfer any of the functions of the Department of the Interior, it would assign responsibilities in a manner that may be inconsistent with some of the provisions of the present bill. An example is the relationship between the comprehensive program for increasing the yield of water from atmospheric sources mentioned in section 100 of the bill, to the general responsibilties that might be consolidated. Another example is the relationship between regional research and operations centers contemplated by section 103 of the bill and the research activities of other agencies. We endorse the concept of section 103, but feel that the section may be somewhat broader in scope than is necessary for this Department to carry out its assigned responsibilties associated with its national water management role. We therefore suggest that it would be appropriate to defer action on S. 2875 until after the reorganization plan is disposed of. When legislation is enacted, we believe that it is important to indicate, as is done in section 100 of the bill, that this Department is expected to engage in atmospheric water resources activities for the purpose of water management throughout the United States without regard to geographical limitation. We would expect, of course, to work very closely with other Federal and non-Federal agencies in developing and operating our weather management program. The Environmental Science Services Administration in the Department of Commerce occupies an important role in weather modification, as do programs of other Federal agences such as the Departments of Defense and Agriculture. We contemplate that very close relations will be maintained with these organizations to facilitate the effective discharge of the responsibilities of each as directed by the Congress, There is also a need, when legislation is enacted, to provide some form of liability protection for contractors who are engaged in weather modification activities under the Federal program. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely yours, STEWART UDALL, Secretary of the Interior. DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE, Hon. HENRY M. JACKSON, Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request for the views of the Department of Defense with respect to S. 2875, 89th Congress, a bill which would authorize and direct a comprehensive program aimed at solving the national problem of providing adequate water supplies. The Air Force has been delegated the responsibility for expressing the views of the Department of Defense. The bill would authorize the Secretary of Interior to carry out a comprehensive, coordinated program of scientific and engineering research and operations for increasing the yield of water from atmospheric sources. To this end, it would provide for the establishment and operation of necessary facilities; direct the participation of other Federal agencies on the basis of agreements which may include the transfer of funds; and permit contracts, grant agreements, or other arrangements for participation by educational institutions, private foundations and others. The bill would also require that activities intended or likely to affect the atmospheric water resources of the United States be licensed by the Secretary of Interior. In addition, S. 2875 would recognize existing authorities of other Federal agencies to perform water resources, meteorological or atmospheric research. Currently, national responsibility for monitoring all weather modification rests with the National Science Foundation. The Department of Defense suggests that Federal regulatory responsibility for all weather modification activities should reside in one Federal agency. While this need not necessarily be the National Science Foudnation, such regulatory responsibility should not be given to an element of the Executive branch which is itself active in weather modification research and operations. Therefore, the Department of Defense recommends that section 202 of the bill be deleted in its entirety. Since the bill recognizes the authorities of other Federal agencies to conduct research and operations in their areas of responsibility and concern, the Department of Defense would not be unduly restricted in its weather modification research and operational efforts to enhance the accomplishment of the Defense mission. In view of the definition in section 2 of the bill, the phrase "of the Interior" should be deleted as surplusage in lines 14, 23, and 11 of pages 2, 6, and 7 respectively. To accurately reflect the fact that the listed property interests are included in the preceding phrase, substitute "including" for the second "or" in line 4 of page 5, and insert "including" before "patents" in line 2 of page 6. Subject to the recommendations set forth above, the Department of Defense interposes no objection to S. 2875. This report has been coordinated within the Department of Defense in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. The Bureau of the Budget advises that, from the standpoint of the Administration's program, there is no objection to the presentation of this report for the consideration of the Committee. Sincerely, ALEXANDER H. FLAX, Assistant Secretary, Research and Development. Hon. HENRY M. JACKSON, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Washington, D.C., March 23, 1966. Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In reply to your request of February 23, 1966, this is our report 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.' This Department endorses Federal support and leadership in research and development activities that will contribute to knowledge of the atmospheric water reservoir and enable man to control this water supply when and where the need arises. We are cooperating, and look forward to continuing cooperation, with the Department of the Interior in weather modification research and development as the state of funds and budget considerations warrant. We would be pleased to see the Department of the Interior undertake additional research and development programs with respect to regulating and enhancing water supply through weather modification. We believe, however, that the legislation proposed by S. 2875 is not needed or appropriate at this time to accomplish that purpose. S. 2875 would create within the Department of the Interior a major new research and development program directed at increasing the yield of water from atmospheric sources in all regions of the United States. The program would 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. Section 101 directs the Secretary of the Interior to consult and cooperate with all Federal agencies that have scientific or engineering competence related to atmospheric water matters. Section 102 authorizes contracts, grants, and other arrangements with educational institutions, private foundations and other institutions, private firms and individuals, and local and State government agencies for execution of the program. Section 103 directs the Secretary to establish a central scientific, engineering and administrative facility, regional research centers, and such other special purpose facilities as may be necessary. Section 104 authorizes arrangements between the Secretary of the Interior and other Federal agencies for the performance of portions of the program. There are provisions in the bill for annual reporting, patents and copyrights, and authorizations and limitations affecting the program. The final provision of the bill authorizes appropriations not to exceed $35,000,000 for the first year after enactment, 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." Weather modification is of major importance to agriculture. Our concept of weather modification extends far beyond increasing yield of water from the atmosphere. The production of food and fiber, the productivity of forest watersheds, the protection of crops and forests, the full utilization of agricultural and forest resources, and the well-being of rural communities are all strongly influenced by weather and climate. We are making significant progress in weather modification research. Our major activity has been in the modification of lightning storms to reduce the occurrence and severity of lightning-caused forest fires. This research, known as Project Skyfire, is being performed by the Northern Forest Fire Laboratory of the Forest Service at Missoula, Montana. Some 10,000 lightning-caused fires occur annually in the United States, causing damages in the millions of dollars to forest resources and from fire control costs. Project Skyfire is determining whether special weather modification techniques can reduce these great losses and costs. While much of this work is of a pioneering nature involving heretofore unexplored fields of research, progress in this major weather modification research is farther advanced than other major weather modification research programs. New knowledge has been gained of the basic mechanisms of fireigniting lightning strokes and of the action of ice-forming nuclei on cloud electrification processes. High output, ram-jet type silver iodide smoke generators and new technology have been developed for delivering large quantities of silver iodide nuclei to thunderstorm cloud systems and for measuring and evaluating the results. Data from three years of cloud seeding experiments in a specially instrumented test area show more than 30 percent reduction in cloud-to-ground lightning from treated storms. This work is providing the essential foundation for a strengthened research effort and for larger scale pilot tests of lightning modification. Results already achieved by Project Skyfire in lightning modification provide some of the background for projected research in hail suppression, a second weather modification area of major interest to this Department. Hail affects production and quality of grain and forage crops in the Plains and Mountain States and fruit and vegetable crops in many regions of the United States. Hailstorms cause extensive damage to agricultural crops every year, wiping out entire crops in some cases. Project Skyfire scientists have found that a relationship exists between hail occurrence and frequency of lightning discharges, the flash rate, and storm duration. Results suggest that if cloud seeding reduces the size and amount of hail, it may also reduce the amount of lightning produced by the storm. For these and other reasons, the modification of lightning and suppression of hail have common interests. A third area of activity by this Department in weather modification research deals with processes that so vitally affect exchange of heat, water vapor, and carbon dioxide in the earth-air interface and the modification of these processes by the management of vegetative cover on agricultural and forest lands. We have a particular responsibility and concern in regard to micro- and meso-scale weather modification in the earth-air boundary layer. Here is where solar energy is incorporated into plant materials and thus enters the food chain. Agricultural research is aimed at obtaining the most efficient energy exchange through modifications of various elements of the environment in this zone. Changes in albedo, surface roughness, the geometry of field crops and forest stands, moisture relations, and other factors can have a significant effect upon production of food, fiber, and water. Studies underway include such things as wind movement, air turbulence, energy budget as related to evapotranspiration, snow accumulation and melt, and photosynthesis. The Department is directly concerned with weather modification research which modifies precipitation intensities and storm patterns over the forested watersheds which produce over one-half of the stream flow in the West. The biological consequences of weather modification are of great concern to agriculture. The best presently available information in the field of plant and animal ecology indicates that any significant large-scale modification of weather would be likely to result in extinction of some natural plant and animal communities, and to increase weed species, insect and disease pests. Conversely, as indicated above, modification of vegetative cover on agricultural and forest. lands may have a strong influence on the local atmospheric behavior over these lands. This Department has a particularly strong background of competency and experience in the scientific disciplines that should be brought to bear in determining the biological effects of weather modification. An increased research program in this regard should be undertaken concomitant with the research directed at learning how to modify weather and climate. This Department also has a long history of effective cooperative and coordinated work with the program of the land-grant colleges as established under the Morrill Act of 1862, including the cooperative work of the State agricultural experiment stations carried out under the Hatch Act of 1887, as amended, and other grant programs. The State stations conduct basic and applied research on micrometeorology and phenology, including cooperative regional research, to correlate weather information for agriculture and to analyze the relationships between climatic variables and plant response. We are determined to continue support of this program and to encourage its expansion in high priority areas. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely yours, ORVILLE L. FREEMAN, Secretary. COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, B-149711. Hon. HENRY M. JACKSON, Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request of March 24, 1966, for a report of our Office 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 provides that in the formulation and execution of the comprehensive program the Secretary of the Interior shall request the advice and participation of all Federal agencies that have scientific or engineering competence related to atmospheric water matters, and that such Federal agencies shall participate in the program on the basis of agreements with the Secretary. The Secretary would be authorized to establish and operate or arrange for the establishment and/or operation of (a) a scientific and engineering facility which would 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. The bill would also authorize the Secretary to provide by contracts, grants, or other arrangements determined 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. We find we are not in a position to add to the information your committee has already received in its consideration of this bill, particularly with regard to the significant licensing and claims provisions of sections 202 and 201. We however wish to point out that the present bill does not contain a provision, as preventive of waste and improper use of Federal funds under the program, to require the recipients of Federal funds under grants or other participation arrangements entered into pursuant to section 102 or section 103 to keep adequate cost records, and permit access thereto by the Secretary of the Interior or the Comtproller General for the purpose of audit and examination. We therefore suggest the bill be amended to include a records and audit provision similar perhaps to that contained in section 11 of Public Law 88-206, Clean Air Act. See, also, section 8(a)(3) of Public Law 89-220, an act to authorize a high-speed ground transportation study. Sincerely yours, FRANK H. WEITZEL, Assistant Comptroller General of the United States. Hon. HENRY M. JACKSON, ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION, Washington, D.C., March 22, 1966. Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, DEAR SENATOR JACKSON: The Atomic Energy Commission is pleased to comment on S. 2875, a bill "[t]o 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." The proposed legislation would direct the Secretary of the Interior to formulate and carry out this comprehensive program by means of contracts, grants, or other arrangements with various institutions, both public and private, including other Federal agencies which are directed to participate in the program. The Secretary would further be directed to establish and operate a scientific and engineering facility to serve as the central planning, analytic, and administrative center for the program, as well as regional centers and such other facilities as may be necessary to accomplish the program. AEC believes the objective of this bill is important. We also think it is time that the entire scope of beneficial weather modification, including such other features as lightning suppression and dispersal of hurricanes and other storms, is committed to Federal planning in depth. It seems to us that research and development pursuant to an extensive National plan, as well as Federal control of the manipulation of weather, are necessary because the interests of all the people in this country are involved; additionally the weather modification program will no doubt eventually have international ramifications. As you are aware, S. 2916 a bill "[t]o provide for a weather modification program to be carried out by the Secretary of Commerce" was introduced on February 10, 1966. Its scope is somewhat broader than that of S. 2875, apparently encompassing a comprehensive program of weather change and climate control. As we understand both bills, the activities which would be carried out by the Secretary of the Interior under S. 2875 would, under S. 2916, be included as part of the program to be carried out by the Secretary of Commerce. The Commission is not in a position to recommend that the responsibility for such activities be assigned to any particular Department or agency. Our own programmatic interests, including our interest in the general field of atmospheric sciences and our development of nuclear energy devices for use in unattended weather stations at sea and in space, do not at this time include any direct participation in controlled weather modification efforts. As the weather program develops, it is very possible, in our view, that we may be able to contribute. We would like to comment briefly on two features of S. 2875 that appear to us to serve particularly worthwhile purposes. These are the recognition that "legal rights of interests" may be affected by weather control efforts, and the requirement that a Federal license must be obtained before any activities can be conducted which may affect the atmospheric water resources of the United States. By explicit direction in the bill, both features are to be patterned after concepts built into the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. These have been employed by the AEC with considerable successful consequence for its programs. Whether or not AEC's Price-Anderson indemnification provisions should be wholly or substantially embodied in this initial full-scale research and development assault on the problems affecting weather control, or whether other protective approaches should be utilized, we cannot really say with any |