(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, 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) This section does not apply to any county having a population, according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census, of: not less thannor more than24,600 24,70028,500 28,56028,690 28,75049,275 49,37551,025 51,12558,075 58,175770,000 780,000Amended by 2013 Tenn. Acts, ch. 93, s 5, eff. any subsequent federal census, of: not less thannor more than24,600 24,70028,500 28,56028,690 28,75049,275 49,37551,025 51,12558,075 58,175770,000 780,000Amended by 2013 Tenn. Acts, ch. 93, s 5, eff. 4/8/2013.Acts 1990, ch. 792, §§ 1-6; T.C.A., § 68-16-108.
Tennessee Legal Code