I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 615 

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 27, 2023 

Mr. WITTMAN (for himself, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. GUEST, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. 

GROTHMAN, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT

of Georgia, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. 

STAUBER, Mr. BOST, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. 

EDWARDS, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. FULCHER, Mr. 

ROSENDALE, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. FINSTAD, and Ms. STEFANIK) 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Access for 

3 Hunters and Anglers Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PROTECTING ACCESS FOR HUNTERS AND ANGLERS 

5 ON FEDERAL LAND AND WATER. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in section 

7 20.21 or 20.108 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations 

8 (as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act), and 

9 subsection (b), the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

10 through the Director of the United States Fish and Wild11 life Service or the Director of the Bureau of Land Man12 agement, and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 

13 the Chief of the Forest Service (referred to in this section 

14 as the ‘‘applicable Secretary’’), may not— 

15 (1) prohibit the use of lead ammunition or tack16 le on Federal land or water that is— 

17 (A) under the jurisdiction of the applicable 

18 Secretary; and 

19 (B) made available for hunting or fishing 

20 activities; or 

21 (2) issue regulations relating to the level of lead 

22 in ammunition or tackle to be used on Federal land 

23 or water described in paragraph (1). 

24 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

25 a prohibition or regulations described in that subsection 


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1 that are limited to a specific unit of Federal land or water, 

2 if the applicable Secretary determines that— 

3 (1) a decline in wildlife population at the spe4 cific unit of Federal land or water is primarily 

5 caused by the use of lead in ammunition or tackle, 

6 based on the field data from the specific unit of Fed7 eral land or water; and 

8 (2) the prohibition or regulations, as applicable, 

9 are— 

10 (A) consistent with the law of the State in 

11 which the specific Federal land or water is lo12 cated; 

13 (B) consistent with an applicable policy of 

14 the fish and wildlife department of the State in 

15 which the specific Federal land or water is lo16 cated; or 

17 (C) approved by the applicable fish and 

18 wildlife department of the State in which the 

19 specific Federal land or water is located. 

20 (c) FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.—The applicable 

21 Secretary shall include in a Federal Register notice with 

22 respect to any prohibition or regulations that meet the re23 quirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b) 


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1 an explanation of how the prohibition or regulations, as 

2 applicable, meet those requirements. 

Æ 


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