TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Senate approved legislation Thursday banning any potential efforts in the state to modify the weather.

The bill imposes fines up to $100,000 and classifies an offense as a second-degree misdemeanor. The proposal now awaits final consideration in the Florida House and, if it passes there, will also need Gov. Ron DeSantis' approval.

"I have a problem with people spraying perfume next to me sometimes,” said Miami Republican State Sen. Illeana Garcia, the bill sponsor. “Don’t you have a problem with people spraying things into the atmosphere that really have no type of empirical data?” 

The bill creates a report line, where Floridians may log and document aerial sightings to the state. Thereafter, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is tasked with investigating.

Garcia said she proposed the bill at the request of her constituents.

"Several areas of Florida have homed in on, called in, and complained about things such as using U.S. Air Force specialized artillery units using C-130 Hercules airplanes to spray chemicals,” Garcia explained.

The Florida Senate approved the bill Thursday with a near party-line vote. Florida Democrats largely criticized the bill as conspiratorial and also questioned the feasibility of the state to investigate such reports.

"I’m afraid that we're legislating on some of these tinfoil theories,” said Boca Raton Democratic State Sen. Tina Polsky.

The bill specifically prohibits the release of chemicals into the sky with the intention of manipulating the temperature, weather, climate or sunlight. 

“People got a lot of kooky ideas that they can get in and put things in the atmosphere to block the sun and save us from climate change,” said DeSantis on social media. “We’re not playing that game in Florida.”

According to the U.S. Office of Government Accountability, roughly 10 U.S. states have banned or are attempting to ban weather modification. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated the organization does not participate in weather modification, and notes that with the exception of cloud seeding, the technology to do that does not exist in the first place.