Canyon’s Law

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4068 To prohibit the use of M–44 devices, commonly known as ‘‘cyanide bombs’’, on public land, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 13, 2023 Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Ms. TITUS, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Ms. BONAMICI) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Nat- ural 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 com- mittee concerned A BILL To prohibit the use of M–44 devices, commonly known as ‘‘cyanide bombs’’, on public land, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Canyon’s Law’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds the following: 6 (1) Sodium cyanide is the highly toxic pesticide 7 active ingredient used in M–44 devices, also known 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4068.IH H4068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 4068 IH as ‘‘cyanide bombs’’, and is used to kill wolves, 1 coyotes, foxes, and wild dogs suspected of preying on 2 livestock and poultry. 3 (2) Sodium cyanide is registered for restricted 4 use under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 5 Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.) as a Cat- 6 egory One acute toxicant, the most hazardous Envi- 7 ronmental Protection Agency classification available, 8 due to the harm it poses to people and the environ- 9 ment. 10 (3) Poisoning by sodium cyanide leads to cen- 11 tral nervous system depression, cardiac arrest, res- 12 piratory failure, paralysis, and blindness. 13 (4) The Environmental Protection Agency au- 14 thorizes the use of M–44 devices nationwide, and in 15 recent years, M–44s were used in Colorado, Idaho, 16 North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, 17 Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, 18 and Wyoming. 19 (5) In 2017, an M–44 device exposed an Idaho 20 child to a sublethal dose of sodium cyanide with sub- 21 sequent short-term and long-term medical complica- 22 tions. Two Wyoming children were also exposed to 23 the poison from another M–44 device. Three family 24 dogs died in these two separate incidents. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4068.IH H4068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 4068 IH (6) The indiscriminate M–44 device commonly 1 harms nontarget wildlife and people; at least 42 peo- 2 ple have accidentally triggered a cyanide bomb caus- 3 ing exposure to cyanide gas and injuries since 1984. 4 (7) M–44 devices kill targeted animals only 53 5 percent of the time. Thousands of nontarget species 6 of animals have been killed by M–44s, including bald 7 eagles, golden eagles, gray wolves, black bears, griz- 8 zly bears, bobcats, fishers, and family dogs. 9 (8) Despite the United States Fish and Wildlife 10 Service determining in 1993 that M–44 devices 11 could kill endangered species like the California Con- 12 dor, the use of the M–44 continues in areas where 13 endangered species are found and continues to result 14 in the deaths of endangered species. 15 SEC. 3. USE OF M–44 DEVICES ON PUBLIC LAND PROHIB- 16 ITED. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Preparing, placing, installing, set- 18 ting, deploying, or otherwise using an M–44 device on 19 public land is prohibited. 20 (b) REMOVAL.—Not later than 30 days after the date 21 of the enactment of this Act, any Federal, State, or county 22 agency that has prepared, placed, installed, set, or de- 23 ployed an M–44 device on public land shall remove each 24 such M–44 device from public land. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4068.IH H4068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 4068 IH (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 1 (1) M–44 DEVICE.— 2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘M–44 de- 3 vice’’ means a device designed to propel sodium 4 cyanide when triggered by an animal. 5 (B) COMMON NAMES.—The term ‘‘M–44 6 device’’ includes any device that may be com- 7 monly known as an ‘‘M–44 ejector device’’ or 8 an ‘‘M–44 predator control device’’. 9 (2) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 10 means any Federal land under the administrative ju- 11 risdiction of a public land management agency. 12 (3) PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY.—The 13 term ‘‘public land management agency’’ means each 14 of, or a combination of, the following: 15 (A) The National Park Service. 16 (B) The United States Fish and Wildlife 17 Service. 18 (C) The Bureau of Land Management. 19 (D) The Bureau of Reclamation. 20 (E) The Forest Service. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4068.IH H4068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB