WEATHER MODIFICATION 2026 GAO Report
5 March 2026 | ZeroGeoengineering.com | U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report on Weather Modification recommends NOAA strengthen oversight to ensure reliable information. To clarify, NOAA’s “oversight” is of weather modification reporting, not oversight of weather modification activities. The document cites the escalating trend — over 30 States — which have some form of proposed or enacted ban on weather modification and geoengineering activities.
Notably, NOAA and other federal “weather enterprise” agencies have potential conflicts of interest due to partnership/participation in atmospheric “research” activities conducted via the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services (ICAMS); established in 2017 by the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act (Public Law No. 115-25, Title IV, sec. 402, 15 U.S.C. § 8542).
“NOAA, within the Department of Commerce, is the only federal agency with responsibilities under the Weather Modification Reporting Act of 1972 (the Act). This report examines the extent to which NOAA is meeting its statutory responsibilities for overseeing current U.S. weather modification reporting and is prepared to oversee an emerging approach like solar geoengineering.”
Weather modification includes cloud seeding (which seeks to alter local precipitation) and solar geoengineering (which seeks larger scale changes in climate).
Recommendations
GAO is making three recommendations, including that Commerce and NOAA should (1) establish written agency guidance for its review of and confirmation that all weather modification reports submitted to NOAA contain the legally required information; (2) improve NOAA’s instructions on how to complete the reporting forms for a range of weather modification activities, including emerging solar geoengineering activities; and (3) implement a process to regularly inform the operators as well as state and local agencies directly about NOAA’s role in weather modification oversight, the applicability of the Act to different activities, and where to find required reporting forms. NOAA agreed with the recommendations.
as of July 2025, more than 30 states have some form of proposed or enacted bans of weather modification
Link To WEATHER MODIFICATION GAO 2026
Related
‘‘Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026’’
The Federal Weather Enterprise: Fiscal Year 2021 Budget and Coordination Report
Preliminary Observations on Geoengineering Science, Federal Efforts, and Governance Issues
A Coordinated Strategy Could Focus Federal Geoengineering Research and Inform Governance Efforts
Federal Weather Modification Efforts Need Congressional Attention
1974 Report Details Coordination of Government Weather Modification
1956 U.S. Senate Record Details Congressional Authorization For Cloud Seeding Experiments