Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 556 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 556

    To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
 Agriculture from prohibiting the use of lead ammunition or tackle on
 certain Federal land or water under the jurisdiction of the Secretary
    of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, and for other
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 16, 2025

 Mr. Wittman (for himself, Mr. McGuire, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Austin
Scott of Georgia, Ms. De La Cruz, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Bean of Florida, Ms.
 Tenney, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Zinke, Mr. Stauber, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Norman,
Mr. McClintock, Mr. Guest, Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Moolenaar,
Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr. Webster of Florida, Mr. Finstad, Mr. Murphy,
Mr. Newhouse, Mr. Walberg, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Biggs of Arizona,
   Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, Mr. Fulcher, Mr. Bost, Mr. Hudson, Ms.
 Hageman, Ms. Boebert, Mr. Cline, Mr. Carter of Georgia, Mr. Tiffany,
 Mr. Williams of Texas, Mr. Bergman, Mr. Balderson, Mr. Messmer, Mrs.
Fischbach, Mr. Fitzgerald, Ms. Letlow, and Mr. Fleischmann) introduced
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural
   Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
 Agriculture from prohibiting the use of lead ammunition or tackle on
 certain Federal land or water under the jurisdiction of the Secretary
    of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, and for other
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Access for Hunters and
Anglers Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTING ACCESS FOR HUNTERS AND ANGLERS ON FEDERAL LAND AND
              WATER.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in section 20.21 or 20.108 of
title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of
enactment of this Act), and subsection (b), the Secretary of the
Interior, acting through the Director of the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service or the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, and
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest
Service (referred to in this section as the ``applicable Secretary''),
may not--
            (1) prohibit the use of lead ammunition or tackle on
        Federal land or water that is--
                    (A) under the jurisdiction of the applicable
                Secretary; and
                    (B) made available for hunting or fishing
                activities; or
            (2) issue regulations relating to the level of lead in
        ammunition or tackle to be used on Federal land or water
        described in paragraph (1).
    (b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to a prohibition or
regulations described in that subsection that are limited to a specific
unit of Federal land or water, if the applicable Secretary determines
that--
            (1) a decline in wildlife population at the specific unit
        of Federal land or water is primarily caused by the use of lead
        in ammunition or tackle, based on the field data from the
        specific unit of Federal land or water; and
            (2) the prohibition or regulations, as applicable, are--
                    (A) consistent with the law of the State in which
                the specific Federal land or water is located;
                    (B) consistent with an applicable policy of the
                fish and wildlife department of the State in which the
                specific Federal land or water is located; or
                    (C) approved by the applicable fish and wildlife
                department of the State in which the specific Federal
                land or water is located.
    (c) Federal Register Notice.--The applicable Secretary shall
include in a Federal Register notice with respect to any prohibition or
regulations that meet the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of
subsection (b) an explanation of how the prohibition or regulations, as
applicable, meet those requirements.
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