Prohibits use of lead ammunition in hunting.

S4225

SENATE, No. 4225

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MAY 14, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� ANDREW ZWICKER

District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)

SYNOPSIS

���� Prohibits use of lead ammunition in hunting.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

prohibiting the use of lead ammunition in
hunting, amending R.S.23:1-1 and R.S.23:4-13, and supplementing Title 23 of the
Revised Statutes. �

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� R.S.23:1-1 is amended to
read as follows:

���� 23:1-1. As used in this title:

����
�Ammunition� means an
object consisting of all the following components: a fixed metallic or
nonmetallic hull casing containing a primer; one or more projectiles, bullets,
or shots; and gunpowder.� All the specified components shall be present for an
object to be ammunition.� Ammunition shall not include, without limitation,
blank ammunition, air gun pellets, flare gun ammunition, nail gun ammunition,
paint ball ammunition, or any non-fixed ammunition;

���� "Apprentice license"
means any resident's apprentice firearm hunting license, resident's apprentice
bow and arrow license, nonresident's apprentice firearm hunting license, or
nonresident's apprentice bow and arrow license issued pursuant to R.S.23:3-4;

���� "Assistant
protector" or "assistant fish and game protector" means the
Deputy Chief of the Bureau of Law Enforcement in the division;

���� "Closed season"
means the date and time of year when wildlife may not be captured, taken,
killed, or had in possession in the field;

���� "Code" means the
State Fish and Game Code;

���� "Conservation police
officer" means any sworn, salaried member of the Bureau of Law Enforcement
in the division holding the titles of Conservation Police Officer I, II, or
III, and includes the titles of Supervising Conservation Police Officer and
Chief of the Bureau of Law Enforcement;

���� "Council" means the
Fish and Game Council in the Division of Fish and Wildlife in the Department of
Environmental Protection;

���� "Delaware river"
means the waters of the Delaware river from the Pennsylvania shore to the New
Jersey shore, or in the case of any tributaries or inland bays on the New
Jersey side, to the mouths of those tributaries or bays;

���� "Deputy warden" or
"deputy fish and game warden" means any commissioned deputy
conservation police officer of the Bureau of Law Enforcement in the division;

���� "Division,"
"Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife," "board," or
"Board of Fish and Game Commissioners" means the Division of Fish and
Wildlife in the Department of Environmental Protection;

���� "Fishing" means the
possession of an instrument used to take fish in a condition that makes the
instrument readily usable, while in a place or in proximity thereto where fish
may be found;

���� "Hunting" means the
possession of an instrument used to take wildlife in a condition that makes the
instrument readily usable, while in a place or in proximity thereto where
wildlife may be found;

����
�Nonlead ammunition� means
ammunition that: contains no lead; is constituted of one percent or less of
lead; or the federal government has approved as nonlead ammunition;

���� "Open season" means
the date and time of year when wildlife may be captured, taken, killed, or had
in possession;

���� "Protector" or
"fish and game protector" means the Chief of the Bureau of Law
Enforcement in the division;

���� "Warden" or
"fish and game warden" means a conservation police officer;

���� "Wildlife" means any
wild mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, mollusk, crustacean, or other wild
animal or any part, product, egg, or offspring or the dead body or parts
thereof.

(cf: P.L.2019, c.407, s.5)

���� 2.��� R.S.23:4-13 is amended
to read as follows:

���� 23:4-13.� A person shall not
use in hunting any fowl or animals of any kind
any ammunition or
any
firearm except as permitted by the provisions of the State Fish and Game Code,
or, in the absence of
[
such
]

a
provision

related to firearms
in
[
said
]

the

code, except a shotgun being not larger than
[
ten
]

10

gauge, and capable of holding not more than two cartridges at one time, or that
may be fired more than twice without reloading, or use a silencer on any
firearm when hunting for game or fowl, under a penalty of $100 for each
offense.

���� The division in its discretion
may issue permits for the use of a rifle for shooting woodchucks only.� A
person shall not use any missile larger than as permitted by the provisions of
the State Fish and Game Code, or, in the absence of
[
such
]

a
provision
related to
firearms
in
[
said
]

the

code, larger than number four shot in possession in the woods or fields at any
time other than during the open season for killing deer, under a penalty of
$100 for each offense.

����
A person shall not use in
hunting any fowl or animals of any kind any ammunition except as permitted by
the provisions of the State Fish and Game Code, under a penalty of not less
than $100 or more than $1,500 for the first offense and not more than $4,000
for a second or subsequent offense.

(cf: P.L.2023, c.330, s.3)

���� 3.��� (New section) a. The council
shall phase in restrictions that increasingly limit the use of lead ammunition to
hunt wildlife in the State and, within three years of the effective date of P.L.
���, c. ����(C.������ �) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the
council shall require that only nonlead ammunition be used to hunt wildlife in
the State.

���� b.��� The council shall
establish and annually update a list of certified nonlead ammunition.� The list
of certified nonlead ammunition shall include, but not be limited to, any
federally approved nonlead ammunition.

���� c.���� This section shall not
apply to government officials or their agents when carrying out a statutory
duty required by law that is unrelated to the management of wildlife.

����

���� 4.��� (New section) In
accordance with the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1
et seq.), the council shall adopt rules and regulations as necessary to
implement P.L. ���, c. ����(C.������ �) (pending before the Legislature as this
bill).

���� 5.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the use of
nonlead ammunition when hunting in the State.� Nonlead ammunition includes
ammunition that contains one percent of lead or less.� Even if the ammunition
contains more than one percent of lead, the ammunition is still considered
nonlead if the federal government categorizes it as nonlead ammunition.� The
Fish and Game Council in the Division of Fish and Wildlife in the Department of
Environmental Protection (the council) is required to ban the use of lead
ammunition in hunting within three years of the effective date of this bill.� Before
instituting the ban, the council is required to phase in restrictions that
increasingly limit the use of lead ammunition in hunting. The council is also required
to establish a list of certified nonlead ammunition. �The requirements related
to nonlead ammunition are not applicable to law enforcement officials or their
agents when they are carrying out their statutory duties unrelated to the
management of wildlife.

���� For each violation of the
nonlead ammunition rules and regulations adopted by the council, a person
receives a penalty of no less than $100 and no more than $1,500 for a first
offense and a penalty of no more than $4,000 for a second or subsequent
offense.