Sponsors (84)
The bill preserves hunters' access and state authority by blocking a nationwide federal ban on lead ammunition/tackle while allowing targeted, data-driven restrictions, at the cost of ongoing public-health and wildlife lead exposure and slower, potentially contested protections.
Federal land managers retain the ability to impose unit-specific lead restrictions when local field data show lead is the primary cause of wildlife decline, allowing targeted protections where harm is documented.
Hunters and anglers on most federal lands keep the legal ability to use traditional lead ammunition and tackle because the bill blocks a new nationwide federal ban.
State fish and wildlife agencies retain a formal role in approving unit-specific lead restrictions, preserving state authority over local wildlife-management decisions.
Children, rural communities, and hunters may face continued public-health risks (e.g., contaminated game meat, environmental lead exposure) because the bill blocks a nationwide federal regulation of lead ammunition and tackle.
Wildlife, especially scavenging birds and other species that ingest spent lead, will likely continue to face exposure and poisoning on most federal lands where no unit-specific ban is adopted.
Requiring unit-level field data and state consistency/approval can delay or prevent on-the-ground restrictions even where lead causes harm, slowing protective action by federal managers.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Stops federal agencies from banning or setting lead levels in ammunition or fishing tackle on federal lands/waters used for hunting/fishing, with narrow unit-specific exceptions tied to local evidence and state concurrence.
Prohibits the Interior and Agriculture Departments (through the Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Forest Service) from banning or setting limits on the amount of lead in ammunition or fishing tackle used on federal land or water that is open for hunting or fishing. Federal managers may still adopt unit-specific restrictions only if local field data show lead is the primary cause of a wildlife population decline at that unit and the restriction is consistent with state law, consistent with the state fish and wildlife department’s policy, or approved by that department; the agency must explain those findings in a Federal Register notice.
Introduced January 16, 2025 by Robert J. Wittman · Last progress March 19, 2026