(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:

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 68-101-108

  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(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 than

nor more than

24,600

24,700

28,500

28,560

28,690

28,750

49,275

49,375

51,025

51,125

58,075

58,175

770,000

780,000