(c) The Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Interior, and Health, Education, and Welfare, and the National Science Foundation, shall conduct a thorough study and investigation of the biological and ecological effects of weather modification and report the results of such study to the Congress not later than two years after the enactment of this Act. TITLE IV-GENERAL AMENDMENTS TO NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ACT OF 1950 SEC. 401. (a) Section 3(a) (2) of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1862(a)(2)) is amended by adding "atmospheric," immediately after "engineering,". (b) Section 3(a) (7) of such Act is amended by adding "and" after the semicolon at the end thereof. (c) Section 3(a)(8) of such Act is amended by striking out the semicolon at the end thereof and inserting in lieu thereof a period. (d) Section 3(a) (9) and section 14 of such Act are repealed. REPORTS SEC. 402. The President shall transmit to the Congress in January of each year a report which shall include (1) a comprehensive and detailed description of the activities and accomplishments of each Federal agency under the provisions of this Act during the preceding fiscal year; (2) an evaluation of such activities and accomplishments in terms of obtaining the objectives of this Act; (3) an analysis of recommended expenditures for all weather modification activities authorized by this Act for the succeeding fiscal year; (4) a description of nonFederal weather modification activities; (5) a description of weather modification activities carried out by foreign countries; and (6) any recommendations for additional legislation which the President may consider necessary or desirable. RECORDS AND AUDIT SEC. 403. (a) Each recipient of a contract grant or party with whom a cooperative agreement is entered into under this Act shall keep such records as the head of the appropriate Federal agency shall prescribe, including records which fully disclose the amount and disposition of the funds received under the grant or cooperative agreement, the total cost of the project or undertaking in connection with which the contract or grant was made or cooperative agreement entered into, and the amount and nature of that portion of the cost of the project or undertaking supplied by other sources, and such other records as will facilitate an effective audit. (b) The head of each Federal agency charged with responsibilities under section 201 and the Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their duly authorized representatives, shall have access for the purpose of audit and examination to any books, documents, papers, and records of the recipient of the grant or party to the cooperative agreement that are pertinent to the grant received or cooperative agreement entered into, under this Act. APPROPRIATIONS SEC. 404. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, not to exceed $12,000,000 for fiscal year 1967; $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1968; and $40,000,000 for fiscal year 1969. COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Your letter of January 23, 1967, requests our comments on S. 373. The bill would assign responsibility for specific aspects of weather modification activities to the Secretary of Commerce; the Secretary of the Interior; the Secretary of Agriculture; the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare; the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency; and the National Science Foundation. Overall responsibility for directing the planning and coordinating the activities of the various agencies would be vested with the President. We are pleased to note that section 403 of the bill includes a records and audits provision relating to recipients of Federal funds under grants and cooperative agreements. The desirability of the proposed legislation involves a matter of policy for determination by the Congress, and therefore we make no recommendation as to its merits. From a technical standpoint, we note that section 404 authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1967, 1968 and 1969, although fiscal year 1967 is now more than half over. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in further reply to your letter of January 23, 1967 requesting the Foundation's comments on S. 373, 90th Congress, to provide for a Weather Modification program. In general, the National Science Foundation is heartily in favor of the purposes of this Bill, but we are troubled by one section, namely, Section 303 which limits the conduct of certain weather modification activities. Section 303 (a) would prevent any such activity which is intended to affect the atmosphere more than 150 miles from the source of such activity without a prior report transmitted by the President to the Congress. This, we believe, would seriously impede some of the most effective contemporary research which has promise of finding ways to reduce the destructiveness of storms. Severe storm systems such as hurricanes and tropical storms have a diameter of at least 300 miles. Any effective seeding within this area would be intended to affect the entire storm system. With respect to lightning and hail suppression, research experiments will often be concerned with storm patterns which could easily exceed 150 miles. Treatment of these storms is usually performed by silver iodide seeding from aircraft supplemented by ground-generated seeding. Guidance of the seeding aircraft is performed in-flight based upon radar evaluation of the storm development as hail cells form and dissipate. To confine the aircraft operational radius to 75 miles might abort the entire experiment since cell development may fluctuate rapidly over a 200 to 300 miles front, requiring complete freedom on the part of the experimenter to follow the locations where the actions is taking place. I should add that even commercial cloud-seeding for rainfall intended to be effective within 30 or 40 miles has been found by the Weather Bureau to modify rainfall patterns as far as 150 miles down wind. We are entirely sympathetic with the concern expressed by the Senate Commerce Committee Report No. 1725 accompanying S. 2916, 89th Congress, at Page 10 regarding the possibilities of irreparable long-range effects of weather modifications research activities upon what might be described as climate rather than transient weather conditions. Perhaps this concern might adequately be allayed by substituting the word "climate" for the word "atmosphere" in Line 9 on Page 11 of the Bill. In any case, I hope that any fixed geographic limit on research activities can be removed from the Bill. Section 303 (b) would, without further legislation, prevent any Federal agency from engaging in "weather modification operational activities" except for fog and cloud dispersal activities under the aegis of the Federal Aviation Agency (permitted by virtue of Section 201 (e) of the Bill). Again, we can understand the feeling that excessive or ill-conceived operational activities might result in irreversible undesirable effects, but we believe that the present limitation may give rise to some confusion. Under the definition of the term "operational activities" in Section 102(b), it may sometimes be difficult to make a sharp distinction between research and development activities and operational activities. With respect to some aspects of weather modification, evaluation of theories or hypotheses to a reasonable degree of accuracy may require field experiments lasting several years during which period significant effects may be produced. I assume that the intention of the Bill is to permit weather modification activities carried on for the purpose of research but to reserve judgment with respect to such activities carried on primarily for their intended effect. I suggest that this intent could be achieved by suitable language in the Report accompanying the Bill or by amending Section 102(b) to read as follows: "The term 'operational activities' means the construction and the systematic use of devices and systems for weather modification with intent to achieve a planned and continuing substantial result of social, economic, commercial, biological, or medical significance." The intention of Section 205 (a) of the Bill, according to the Senate Commerce Committee at Pages 11 and 14 of its Report No. 1725, 89th Congress, is to authorize "... the Secretary of Commerce to issue regulations governing weather modification activities by commercial organizations which interfere with activities which would be authorized by this bill. . .". In order to carry out this intention and to make clear that the object of the regulations is to govern the weather modification activities of private organizations not having contracts, grants or other agreements for conducting weather modification activities for the Federal agencies authorized to carry out the purposes of the Bill, it is suggested that in the fourth line of Section 205 (a) the phrase "for Federal agencies under this Act" be inserted after the word "activities". One minor point might be made to the effect that in Section 101 (b) (6) the word "meteorology" is redundant since that field is included in the term "atmospheric sciences". Subject to these suggestions we strongly endorse S. 373 and recommend its enactment. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that it has no objection to the submission of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely yours, LELAND J. HAWORTH, Director. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, U.S. Senate. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In reply to your request of January 23, 1967, this is our report on S. 373, the proposed "Weather Modification Act of 1967," to provide for a weather modification program. This bill would declare the policy of Congress with respect to a comprehensive and coordinated weather modification program. It would define the functions of several Federal agencies engaged in specific aspects of the program, including: Commerce; Interior; Agriculture; Health, Education and Welfare; the Federal Aviation Agency; and the National Science Foundation. Federal coordination and planning would be achieved by the President in consultation with the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and private and educational organizations. A thorough study and investigation would be conducted in cooperation with all Federal agencies engaged in such a program, including the National Science Foundation, of the need for new national facilities for weather modification research, including a consideration of the adaptability of existing Federal facilities. An appropriate report would be made to the Congress within the year after the effective date of this Act. Provisions for international cooperation, prior approval of Congress for certain weather modification activities, and investigations of social, economic, biological, and ecological effects would be enacted. Under Title II, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to carry out a program in such aspects of weather modification as relate to the control of lightning and hail, and to the protection of vegetation from the effects of other weather phenomena. This provision seems entirely appropriate to our interests. The specific authorizations for other agencies included under this title seem apropos, if acceptable to them. Sec. 303 (a) specifies that before any Federal agency conducts any weather modification activity which is intentionally designed in whole or in part to affect the atmosphere more than one hundred and fifty miles from the source of such activity, the President shall report to the Congress thereon. We respectfully submit that this would be an impractical requirement, as interpreted by the Interdepartmental Committee for Atmospheric Sciences. The provisions of Public Law 85-510 and Executive Order 10521 have provided a framework under which the National Science Foundation has given effective leadership and coordination to such research. The proposed Act would more specifically delineate the role of this and other executive agencies and could expedite the development of a coordinated weather modification program. 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. DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request to the Secretary of Defense for the views of the Department of Defense with respect to S. 373, a bill to provide for a weather modification program to be carried out by the Secretary of Commerce. The Department of the Air Force has been designated to express the views of the Department of Defense. The proposed legislation would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to carry out a comprehensive program in weather modification and to furnish technical assistance and information in weather modification to any other Federal agency requesting such. It would also authorize the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Interior, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency to carry out research and development programs in weather modification related to their functional areas. It would permit the Federal Aviation Agency to conduct operational activities related to its own research and development program and would authorize the National Science Foundation to initiate and support basic and applied research, and programs of education and training in those sciences related to weather and climate modification. Further, the bill would provide for Federal planning, coordinating, reporting, regulating, and international cooperation concerning certain weather modification activities. In establishing Federal agency responsibility for carrying out the various programs of weather modification, the proposed legislation does not specifically allocate a particular program to the Department of Defense. Senate Report No. 1725, on S. 2916, 89th Congress, an Act identical with S. 373, did recognize the Department's past efforts in the area of weather modification and indicated that the Act did not provide for explicit authorization for the Department of Defense "because of the military significance and classified nature of their work". Since the aim of S. 2916 was to establish a “civilian national program," there was no requirement to specifically identify the Department with a particular program. The Report went on to state: "The committee, however, would anticipate that research and development in important aspects of weather modification would continue to be supported by the military departments. The avoidance of duplication becomes a responsibility of the Federal coordination process." Furthermore, S. 373 also recognizes the Department's programs in weather modification developments when it provides for the Secretary of Defense's participation in a study to determine the need for the regulation of commercial weather modification programs. The Department of Defense, therefore, interprets S. 373 as containing no restrictions on its responsibilities and functions in weather modification research, development, and operational activities, subject only to the coordination process of section 301 to avoid duplication of efforts and section 303(a) requiring Congressional notice where any weather modification activity of a Federal agency is intentionally designed to affect the atmosphere more than one hundred and fifty miles from the source of such activity. It is noted that in providing for various "Administrative Powers" S. 373 enables the agencies covered to utilize the services, equipment, personnel, and facilities of other Federal agencies. Although the bill states such utilization will be on a consent basis, it goes on to state that "each department and agency of the Federal Government shall cooperate fully in making its services, equipment, personnel, and facilities aavilable..." (Emphasis supplied.) The Department of Defense intends to cooperate fully with the agencies designated to carry out their respective programs, but must emphasize that such cooperation should be on a consent basis so as to insure the availability of resources and facilities within the Department to meet its primary responsibilities. In the nature of a technical comment, it is suggested that references to the various Secretaries in section 304 (a) and (b) be restated for clarity and, to be consistent with section 304 (c), to read: "Secretaries of Agriculture, Interior, and Health, Education, and Welfare." In view of the above, the Department of Defense defers to the Federal agencies primarily concerned with S. 373. 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. GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Washington, D.C., June 20, 1968. Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This letter is in reply to your request for the views of this Department with respect to S. 373, a bill "To provide for a weather modification program." The bill declares that it is the policy of the United States to develop, encourage, and maintain a comprehensive and coordinated program in weather modification. It also contains a "Definitions" section. Title II authorizes various Federal departments and agencies to carry out functions in the field of weather modification and prescribes their ancillary powers. Title III authorizes the President to coordinate and plan Federal activities in weather modification and authorizes the Secretary of State to cooperate in international activities in this area. It further requires the President to report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to the President of the Senate and to the Committee on Commerce of the Senate and to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce of the House of Representatives prior to the undertaking of any Federal agency of a weather modification activity designed in whole or in part to affect the atmosphere more than one hundred and fifty miles from the source of such activity. Further, other than as specified in the bill, any weather modification operation activity conducted by a Federal agency would require the prior approval of Congress enacted into law. The bill also calls for studies and reports on the question of liability for damages attributable to weather modification activities, on the social and economic effects of weather modification, and on its biological and ecological effects. Title IV amends the National Science Foundation Act to delete the express statutory direction that NSF conduct weather research. It further requires the President to furnish the Congress with an annual report on weather modification. It also requires recipients of Federal grants or parties to cooperative agreements to keep records on the disposition of funds and permit Federal access to these records. Finally, it authorizes the appropriation of the necessary sums to carry out the bill. Weather modification is a new and very exciting field of modern scientific inquiry. If we in the United States can develop extensive capabilities in weather modification, the benefits to the American people would be substantial. These capabilities would permit us to expand the national economy and enhance the safety and well-being of the American people in ways and to a degree that are now inconceivable. We are today, however, a considerable distance from this goal, and it will take many years of hard work to achieve it. But there is great promise. Modern science and technology have now brought us to a point at which it is possible to mount a broad program of scientific research to determine what types |