Federal wildlife agencies lose power to ban lead ammunition on public lands

What it does

This bill prohibits the federal government from banning lead ammunition and fishing tackle on federal lands and waters used for hunting and fishing, with a narrow exception: the Interior and Agriculture secretaries may restrict lead use on a specific federal site only if they prove wildlife decline there is primarily caused by lead and the state approves. The bill benefits hunters and anglers by preserving their access to cheaper lead ammunition; it restricts federal environmental authority to phase out lead use.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a prohibition on federal ammunition bans, framed as protecting hunter access. Its functional effect is to restrict the Interior and Agriculture secretaries' environmental and wildlife-management authority, narrowing their ability to phase out lead ammunition on federal lands even where wildlife decline is documented.

What the text implies

• The exception in subsection (b) requires state approval, effectively giving states veto power over federal wildlife protection on federal land—a shift in federalism that may limit Interior/Agriculture authority even where federal land is at stake.
• Lead ammunition and tackle persist in the food chain: hunters consume game killed with lead shot, and raptors/scavengers feed on carcasses, creating bioaccumulation pathways. The bill does not address these health vectors, only the federal ban authority.
• The bill locks in the regulatory status quo as of the enactment date (referencing 50 CFR 20.21 and 20.108), preventing future federal science-based updates to ammunition standards without new legislation.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Hunters and anglers retain cheaper ammunition access and preserve a traditional practice, a concrete benefit to those communities. However, lead ammunition and tackle pose documented public-health and wildlife risks (lead bioaccumulation in game meat consumed by hunters and their families, lead poisoning in raptors and scavengers feeding on carcasses), and the bill strips federal agencies of their primary tool to address those risks except in narrow, state-approved cases. The trade-off is real:

Who stands to gain

• ammunition manufacturers (lead-based ammunition remains cheaper than non-lead alternatives)
• fishing-tackle manufacturers (lead weights and sinkers)
• hunting and fishing retailers

Named in the bill

Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, State fish and wildlife departments, 50 CFR 20.21, 50 CFR 20.108

Where it stands

83 cosponsors: 83 Republicans.

• Jan 16, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jan 16, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture and House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period…”
• Jul 15, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jul 15, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 23 - 17”
• Mar 18, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by recorded vote: 215 - 202 (Roll no. 93). (text of amendment in the nature of a…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

6 lobbying clients named this bill on 12 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $9,837,848 in lobbying spend. A filing names 58 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 82% of bills with at least one filing.

Robert Wittman, the sponsor, reported $1,274,106 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• National Shooting Sports Foundation — $7,820,000 on 4 filings
• National Rifle Association of America — $990,000 on 2 filings
• National Association for Gun Rights — $429,548 on 2 filings
• Defenders of Wildlife — $370,000 on 2 filings
• Earthjustice Action — $188,300 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.