Relating to the prohibition of geoengineering activities, providing penalties, and including effective date provisions

Description

Senate File 2208 prohibits geoengineering activities including polluting atmospheric activity, cloud seeding, or any other form of weather engineering with the intent to manipulate or alter the weather. A violation of these prohibited activities results in a Class D felony. The Bill directs the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to issue an immediate cease-and-desist order to any person suspected of violating the prohibition. A cease-and-desist order issued by the DPS has the weight of a court order. Each day a violation occurs, continues, or is repeated constitutes a separate offense.

The Bill takes effect upon enactment.

Background

A Class D felony is punishable by confinement for up to five years and a fine of at least $1,025 but not more than $10,245.

Assumptions

• The following will not change over the projection period: charge, conviction, and sentencing patterns and trends; prisoner length of stay (LOS); revocation rates; plea bargaining; and other criminal justice system policies and practices.
• County jail data is unavailable. For purposes of this analysis, the marginal cost for county jails is assumed to be $50 per day.
• Conviction data reflects the total number of convictions in adult court, which may include multiple convictions per individual. Not all convictions lead to incarceration, and there may be a delay between conviction and prison admission, which can contribute to differences in totals.
• A six-month delay is assumed from the effective date of the Bill to the date the first offender will enter the correctional system.
• Offender-based convictions are a count of individuals convicted of the same offense. Each offender is counted only once per Iowa Code section, regardless of the number of individual convictions.
• Admissions are a count of individuals newly admitted to the Department of Corrections (DOC) for supervision during a selected time period, based on the most serious offense committed.

Correctional Impact

Senate File 2208 creates a new offense, therefore the impact on prison admissions, LOS, community-based supervision, or other correctional resources cannot be determined. Figure 1 shows estimates for sentencing to State prison, parole, probation, or Community-Based Corrections (CBC) residential facilities; LOS in months under those supervisions; and supervision marginal costs per day for a Class D felony.

Figure 1 — Sentencing Estimates and Length of Stay (LOS) in Months

Conviction Offense Class

Percent

Ordered

to State

Prison

FY 2025

Avg LOS in

Prison (All Releases)

Marginal

Cost Per

Day

Prison

Percent

Ordered

to

Probation

FY 2025

Field Avg

LOS on

Probation

Avg Cost

Per Day

Probation

Marginal

Cost Per

Day CBC

Marginal

Cost Per

Day Jail

FY 2025

Field Avg

LOS on

Parole

Marginal

Cost Per

Day

Parole

D Felony Non-Persons 84.20% 12.5 $23.07 69.40% 41.4 $8.00 $16.35 $50.00 15.5 $8.00 Refer to the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) memo addressed to the General Assembly, Cost Estimates Used for Correctional Impact Statements, dated January 12, 2026, for information related to the correctional system.

Minority Impact

Senate File 2208 creates a new offense, and as a result, existing data cannot be used to estimate whether enforcement or sentencing under the Bill would disproportionately affect minority populations. Refer to the LSA memo addressed to the General Assembly, Minority Impact Statements, dated January 12, 2026, for information related to minorities in the criminal justice system.

Fiscal Impact

Senate File 2208 creates new criminal offenses and places the enforcement responsibilities on the DPS. Any potential fiscal impact would depend on the number of investigations, cease-and-desist orders issued, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences resulting from the enactment of SF 2208. Due to the creation of a new offense, the fiscal impact on the State, including enforcement, judicial, and correctional costs, cannot be determined. Figure 2 shows the average State cost per Class D felony. The estimated impact to the General Fund includes operating costs incurred by the Judicial Branch, the Indigent Defense Fund, and the DOC. The cost would be incurred across multiple fiscal years for prison and parole supervision. Figure 2 — Average State Cost Per Offense

Sources

• Department of Corrections
• Division of Data, Planning, and Improvement (DPI), Department of Management (DOM)
• Department of Public Safety