Bill looking to limit cloud seeding advances to Senate

BISMARCK, N.D. (KUMV) - A bill that would limit cloud seeding operations in North Dakota has passed the house floor.

House Bill 1166 saw several amendments before passing. It now requires seeding to stop when the core of the storm crosses into a county that doesn’t support seeding and requires a county election to extend the program. The bill also bans any use of state funds for weather modification.

“The counties have two thirds of the current funding and that’s true, which means that it’s not going to be that big of a difference for them to pick up the rest of that bill,” said Rep. Matt Ruby, R-Minot.

Currently five counties participate in weather modification: Williams, McKenzie, Mountrail, Bowman, and Slope. Commissioners there argue it gives too much power to other counties.

The bill was originally written to require adjacent counties to approve operations before they could start. That was removed during rewriting.

The bill advanced in a 69-22 vote and is now being discussed in the Senate.