Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1185 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 18, 2023 Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. WICKER, Mr. RISCH, Mr. CRAPO, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. MARSHALL, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. RICKETTS, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. COTTON, Mr. THUNE, Mr. BUDD, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. HAWLEY, and Mr. TUBERVILLE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture from prohibiting the use of lead ammuni- tion 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Apr 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1185 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Access for 2 Hunters and Anglers Act of 2023’’. 3 SEC. 2. PROTECTING ACCESS FOR HUNTERS AND ANGLERS 4 ON FEDERAL LAND AND WATER. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in section 6 20.21 or 20.108 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations 7 (as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act), and 8 subsection (b), the Secretary of the Interior, acting 9 through the Director of the United States Fish and Wild- 10 life Service or the Director of the Bureau of Land Man- 11 agement, and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 12 the Chief of the Forest Service (referred to in this section 13 as the ‘‘applicable Secretary’’), may not— 14 (1) prohibit the use of lead ammunition or tack- 15 le on Federal land or water that is— 16 (A) under the jurisdiction of the applicable 17 Secretary; and 18 (B) made available for hunting or fishing 19 activities; or 20 (2) issue regulations relating to the level of lead 21 in ammunition or tackle to be used on Federal land 22 or water described in paragraph (1). 23 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 24 a prohibition or regulations described in that subsection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Apr 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1185 IS that are limited to a specific unit of Federal land or water, 1 if the applicable Secretary determines that— 2 (1) a decline in wildlife population at the spe- 3 cific unit of Federal land or water is primarily 4 caused by the use of lead in ammunition or tackle, 5 based on the field data from the specific unit of Fed- 6 eral land or water; and 7 (2) the prohibition or regulations, as applicable, 8 are— 9 (A) consistent with the law of the State in 10 which the specific Federal land or water is lo- 11 cated; 12 (B) consistent with an applicable policy of 13 the fish and wildlife department of the State in 14 which the specific Federal land or water is lo- 15 cated; or 16 (C) approved by the applicable fish and 17 wildlife department of the State in which the 18 specific Federal land or water is located. 19 (c) FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.—The applicable 20 Secretary shall include in a Federal Register notice with 21 respect to any prohibition or regulations that meet the re- 22 quirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b) 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Apr 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1185 IS an explanation of how the prohibition or regulations, as 1 applicable, meet those requirements. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Apr 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS