68-101-108 - Limitations on release of balloons into the atmosphere Exemptions. - Tennessee Statutes

68-101-108. Limitations on release of balloons into the atmosphere Exemptions.

(a)  No person, including an officer or employee of this state or any political subdivision of the state, shall knowingly release into the atmosphere more than twenty-five (25) balloons that are:

     (1)  (A)  Made of a nonbiodegradable material; or

          (B)  Made of a biodegradable material that requires more than several minutes of contact with air or water to degrade; and

     (2)  Filled with helium or another substance that causes the balloons to rise or float in the atmosphere.

(b)  Any person violating subsection (a) is subject to a civil penalty of two hundred fifty dollars ($250). Each balloon released in a single day, without a permit, in excess of the limit imposed in subsection (a), constitutes a separate violation.

(c)  This section does not apply to weather balloons that are used for the purpose of carrying scientific instruments during the performance of an experiment or testing procedure.

(d)  The provisions of this section do not apply to any county having a population, according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census, of:

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[Acts 1990, ch. 792, §§ 1-6; T.C.A., § 68-16-108.]