IIB 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 615 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MAY 1, 2024 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works 
AN ACT 
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-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Access for 
Hunters and Anglers Act of 2023’’. 
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 Wild-
life Service or the Director of the Bureau of Land Man-
agement, 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 tack-
le 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 
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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 spe-
cific 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 Fed-
eral 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 lo-
cated; 
(B) consistent with an applicable policy of 
the fish and wildlife department of the State in 
which the specific Federal land or water is lo-
cated; 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 re-
quirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b) 
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an explanation of how the prohibition or regulations, as 
applicable, meet those requirements. 
Passed the House of Representatives April 30, 2024. 
Attest: 
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 
Clerk. 
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