Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act
Officially: “Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act” Read the full text
What it does
Read it in plain language
1Short title
This section would let the Act be cited as the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act of 2025.
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act of 2025 .
2Protecting access for hunters and anglers on federal land and water
This section would bar the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, from prohibiting the use of lead ammunition or tackle on federal land or water that is both under that official's jurisdiction and made available for hunting or fishing activities. It would also bar those officials from issuing regulations on the level of lead allowed in ammunition or tackle used on that land or water. These restrictions would not apply to section 20.21 or 20.108 of title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as those regulations are in effect on the date this Act is enacted. The restrictions would also not apply to a prohibition or regulation that is limited to one specific unit of federal land or water, if the responsible Secretary determines both that a decline in wildlife population at that specific unit is caused primarily by the use of lead in ammunition or tackle, based on field data from that unit, and that the prohibition or regulation is consistent with the law of the state where the land or water is located, consistent with an applicable policy of that state's fish and wildlife department, or approved by that state's fish and wildlife department. Whenever the Secretary issues a unit-specific prohibition or regulation that meets both of those conditions, the Secretary would have to include in a Federal Register notice an explanation of how the prohibition or regulation meets each condition.
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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 Wildlife Service or the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, 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 tackle 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 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 specific 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 Federal 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 located; (B) consistent with an applicable policy of the fish and wildlife department of the State in which the specific Federal land or water is located; 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 requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b) an explanation of how the prohibition or regulations, as applicable, meet those requirements.
Where it is
In the House.