House approves bill to protect lead ammo, tackle

The legislation has long been a Republican priority. A handful of Democrats crossed the aisle to support it.

March 19, 2026

The House approved legislation Wednesday to protect the use of lead ammunition and fish tackle on public lands and waters.

The "Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act," H.R. 556, Rep. Robert Wittman (R-Va.), would prevent rulemaking to prohibit lead bullets, fishing hooks and other related tools on certain federal lands.

The bill passed 215-202, with seven Democrats voting in favor and only one Republican — Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania — against. Fitzpatrick often votes with most Democrats on environmental issues.

The Obama and Biden administration both moved to limit the use of lead ammunition and tackle to protect wildlife. But critics of such limits say they're not backed by evidence.

"You can mislead, but the American people aren’t gonna fall for that,” Wittman said. "The American people understand what this is about, and that is allowing them to have access to the land that they own and the resources that belong to all of us."

Switching from lead to non-lead materials will place “unnecessary burdens” on hunters and anglers, particularly related to price differences, he added.

House Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) decried the “poorly written” measure, which he said was created “by and for the gun lobby.”

The legislation doesn’t comply with the Endangered Species Act, he argued, and keeping lead in play could cause closures of hunting and fishing in areas near protected species.

"For species on the brink of extinction, each piece of spent ammunition or lost fishing tackle left in the environment is another potential lethal dose of lead," Huffman said.


By:  Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp
Source: E&E Daily