I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5519 

To amend the America COMPETES Act to improve measurement and assessment capabilities for understanding proposed atmospheric interventions 

in Earth’s climate, including, as a priority, the effects of proposed interventions in the stratosphere and in cloud-aerosol processes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. MCNERNEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To amend the America COMPETES Act to improve measurement and assessment capabilities for understanding 

proposed atmospheric interventions in Earth’s climate, 

including, as a priority, the effects of proposed interventions in the stratosphere and in cloud-aerosol processes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Atmospheric Climate 

5 Intervention Research Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad2 ministration (referred to in this section as ‘‘NOAA’’) 

3 and its Office of Ocean and Atmospheric Research 

4 undertakes research, including scientific research, 

5 computer modeling and other forms of analysis, and 

6 uses satellite, airborne, and ground-based systems to 

7 monitor atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, in8 cluding radiative forcing gases and stratospheric 

9 ozone as well as the chemical compounds and atmos10 pheric conditions that affect its concentration. 

11 (2) The NOAA Earth System Research Labora12 tory, the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab13 oratory, and the NOAA Air Resource Laboratory are 

14 actively involved in observations, modeling, and mon15 itoring that enhance the scientific understanding of 

16 atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, drivers of ra17 diative forcing of climate change in the atmosphere, 

18 the health of the stratosphere, including ozone and 

19 the processes affecting its concentration in the strat20 osphere, and cloud aerosol interactions and their cli21 mate effects. 

22 (3) There are significant risks posed by the po23 tential introduction of material into the stratosphere 

24 from natural events such as volcanic eruptions, in25 creased air and space traffic, and proposals to inject 


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1 material to temporarily reduce global radiative forc2 ing of climate that currently are the subject of a 

3 forthcoming report by the National Academies of 

4 Sciences. 

5 (4) To monitor and assess these risks requires 

6 significant improvements to observations of the 

7 abundances and chemistry of the stratospheric gases 

8 and particles and the reflectivity of the stratosphere 

9 to establish the baseline state of the stratosphere 

10 and its trend over time and to develop enhancements 

11 to stratospheric models used for predicting climate 

12 impacts of material introduced into the stratosphere 

13 by natural or other means. 

14 (5) Under the Weather Modification Reporting 

15 Act of 1972 (15 U.S.C. 330 et seq.), NOAA is re16 sponsible for oversight of any activities undertaken 

17 to modify weather, which includes research or test18 ing activities related to modifying the atmosphere to 

19 affect local, regional, or global climate (defined as 

20 atmospheric climate intervention under such Act). 

21 (6) The Montreal Protocol, finalized in 1987, 

22 and ratified by the United States in 1988, has prov23 en to be innovative and successful in protecting the 

24 Earth’s ozone layer, and is the only environmental 

25 treaty to achieve universal ratification by all counVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:08 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5519.IH H5519

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1 tries in the world. The United States has been a 

2 leader within the Protocol throughout its existence. 

3 Hence, the Protocol should remain the governing 

4 global agreement to protect the stratospheric ozone 

5 layer. 

6 SEC. 3. STRATOSPHERE AND CLIMATE INTERVENTION RE7 SEARCH PROGRAM. 

8 Section 4001 of the America COMPETES Act (33 

9 U.S.C. 893) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘atmospheric research’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘atmospheric and climate inter13 vention research’’; and 

14 (B) by inserting ‘‘and observational, moni15 toring, forecasting,’’ after ‘‘advanced tech16 nologies’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (b)— 

18 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘and at19 mospheric’’ and inserting ‘‘, ATMOSPHERIC, 

20 AND CLIMATE INTERVENTION’’; 

21 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

22 the end; 

23 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe24 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

25 (D) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) to improve measurement and assessment 

2 capabilities for understanding proposed atmospheric 

3 interventions in climate, including, as a priority, the 

4 effects of proposed interventions in the stratosphere 

5 and in cloud-aerosol processes; 

6 ‘‘(5) within the Office of Ocean and Atmos7 pheric Research of the National Oceanic and Atmos8 pheric Administration, to undertake research, includ9 ing scientific research, and develop increased obser10 vations, improved models, new analyses, computing 

11 and related technologies, and risk assessment to im12 prove understanding and prediction of— 

13 ‘‘(A) the chemistry and dynamics of the 

14 stratosphere; 

15 ‘‘(B) Earth’s radiation budget; and 

16 ‘‘(C) the impacts of changes in atmos17 pheric aerosol forcing on the Earth’s energy 

18 balance and climate; 

19 ‘‘(6) to expand the use of cloud computing, 

20 space-based and ground-based remote sensing capa21 bilities, and other commercially available tech22 nologies to accelerate research; and 

23 ‘‘(7) within the Office of Oceanic and Atmos24 pheric Research, to assess and advise the Secretary 

25 with respect to reports submitted under the Weather 


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1 Modification Reporting Act of 1972 (15 U.S.C. 330 

2 et seq.) relating to atmospheric climate intervention 

3 experiments, and, as determined appropriate by the 

4 Office, make available to the public findings and 

5 data relating to such reports.’’. 

Æ 


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