Canyon’s Law
Bill: S.4584 | Sponsor: Sen. Merkley, Jeff (D-OR)
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Canyon's Law
This bill prohibits the preparing, placing, installing, setting, deploying, or otherwise using an M-44 device on public land. An M-44 device is defined as a device designed to propel sodium cyanide when triggered by an animal, including any device that may be commonly known as an M-44 ejector device or an M-44 predator control device.
No later than 30 days after the enactment of this bill, any federal, state, or county agency that has prepared, placed, installed, set, or deployed an M-44 device on public land shall remove each such device from such land.

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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as ``Canyon's Law''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Sodium cyanide is the highly toxic pesticide active 
        ingredient used in M-44 devices, also known as ``cyanide 
        bombs'', and is used to kill wolves, coyotes, foxes, and wild 
        dogs suspected of preying on livestock and poultry.
            (2) Sodium cyanide is registered for restricted use under 
        the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 
        U.S.C. 136 et seq.) as a Category One acute toxicant, the most 
        hazardous Environmental Protection Agency classification 
        available, due to the harm it poses to people and the 
        environment.
            (3) Poisoning by sodium cyanide leads to central nervous 
        system depression, cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, 
        paralysis, and blindness.
            (4) The Environmental Protection Agency authorizes the use 
        of M-44 devices nationwide, and in recent years, M-44s were 
        used in Colorado, Idaho, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, 
        Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and 
        Wyoming.
            (5) In 2017, an M-44 device exposed an Idaho child to a 
        sublethal dose of sodium cyanide with subsequent short-term and 
        long-term medical complications. Two Wyoming children were also 
        exposed to the poison from another M-44 device. Three family 
        dogs died in these two separate incidents.
            (6) The indiscriminate M-44 device commonly harms nontarget 
        wildlife and people; at least 42 people have accidentally 
        triggered a cyanide bomb causing exposure to cyanide gas and 
        injuries since 1984.
            (7) M-44 devices kill targeted animals only 53 percent of 
        the time. Thousands of nontarget species of animals have been 
        killed by M-44s, including bald eagles, golden eagles, gray 
        wolves, black bears, grizzly bears, bobcats, fishers, and 
        family dogs.
            (8) Despite the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
        determining in 1993 that M-44 devices could kill endangered 
        species like the California Condor, the use of the M-44 
        continues in areas where endangered species are found and 
        continues to result in the deaths of endangered species.

SEC. 3. USE OF M-44 DEVICES ON PUBLIC LAND PROHIBITED.

    (a) In General.--Preparing, placing, installing, setting, 
deploying, or otherwise using an M-44 device on public land is 
prohibited.
    (b) Removal.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, any Federal, State, or county agency that has 
prepared, placed, installed, set, or deployed an M-44 device on public 
land shall remove each such M-44 device from public land.
    (c) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) M-44 device.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``M-44 device'' means a 
                device designed to propel sodium cyanide when triggered 
                by an animal.
                    (B) Common names.--The term ``M-44 device'' 
                includes any device that may be commonly known as an 
                ``M-44 ejector device'' or an ``M-44 predator control 
                device''.
            (2) Public land.--The term ``public land'' means any 
        Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of a public 
        land management agency.
            (3) Public land management agency.--The term ``public land 
        management agency'' means each of, or a combination of, the 
        following:
                    (A) The National Park Service.
                    (B) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
                    (C) The Bureau of Land Management.
                    (D) The Bureau of Reclamation.
                    (E) The Forest Service.
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