The Carroll Standard

House Bill Limits Federal Restrictions on Hunting

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WASHINGTON –  A hunting bill passed by the House on Tuesday makes it harder to restrict hunting and fishing on public lands and ensures that the hunter's arsenal will continue to include lead bullets.

The legislation, which passed 274-146, also allows those who have legally hunted polar bears in Canada to bring their trophies home.

Republican sponsors said the bill, which faces an uncertain future in the Senate, protects sportsmen from bureaucratic restrictions. Democratic opponents said it was unneeded because 85 percent of federal land is open to hunting and called it a sop to the gun lobby.

The measure requires federal land managers to support hunting and fishing on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land. The BLM can only close public lands to recreational shooting for specific reasons such as national security and fire safety. It must also submit a report to Congress detailing the location and evidence justifying any closure.

The lead issue refers to efforts by environmentalists to ban the use of lead in ammunition and fishing tackle. They say lead poisoning kills 10 million to 20 million birds and other animals every year and that hunters who eat what they hunt have also been shown to have higher levels of lead in their bloodstreams.

The Environmental Protection Agency, in 2010 and again this year, rejected petitions from conservation and some hunting groups to ban lead bullets, shotgun pellets and fishing tackle under the Toxic Substances Control Act, saying the issue was not within the agency's jurisdiction.

The House bill would give legal backing to that position, by clearly limiting the EPA's authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act. It amends that act to allow for the sales of traditional ammunition and fishing tackle.

Congress in 1976 banned the EPA from regulating ammunition, but anti-lead groups have argued that that ban does not prohibit the agency from regulating the components of ammunition. ...continued at FoxNews...