(a) Upon receiving written approval of exemption status from the Department in accordance with this section, persons may engage in the following types of weather modification and control activities without obtaining a license or permit.      
        (1) Laboratory research and experiments.       
        (2) Activities of an emergency nature for protection against fire, frost, sleet, or fog.       
        (3) Research, development, and application of weather modification technologies conducted by state and federal agencies, institutions of higher learning, and bona fide nonprofit research organizations.       
        (4) Activities normally conducted for purposes other than inducing, increasing, decreasing, or preventing precipitation or hail.       
      (b) Persons planning to conduct projects meeting the exemption requirements in subsection (a)(1), (3), or (4) must request exemption status from the Department in writing at least 90 days prior to the proposed start of each weather modification project. The request must include the documentation required in §79.18(3) and the name and mailing address of the requestor.     
      (c) The Department will either grant or deny exemption status in writing within 30 days after the request is received.     
      (d) Persons engaging in weather modification and control activities exempted from licensing and permitting under subsection (a)(1), (3), or (4) must comply with the requirements of §§79.31 - 79.33.     
     Source Note:        The provisions of this §79.12 adopted to be effective December 30, 2001, 26 TexReg 10525; amended to be effective August 14, 2002, 27 TexReg 7104; amended to be effective July 13, 2004, 29 TexReg 6641