S 4954: Prohibits the use of lead ammunition in the taking of wildlife on wildlife management areas, state forests, forest preserves, state parks or any other state-owned land that is open for hunting and on land contributing surface water to the New York city water supply.
The bill aims to prohibit the use of lead ammunition in the taking of wildlife on state-owned land and land contributing surface water to the New York City water supply. This means that hunters will not be allowed to use lead ammunition on wildlife management areas, state forests, forest preserves, state parks, or any other state-owned land that is open for hunting. The bill also requires the Department of Environmental Conservation to prepare a syllabus of laws and information informing migratory game bird hunters about open seasons, bag limits, lead ammunition prohibitions, and other relevant regulations. The syllabus will be delivered to county, city, town, and village clerks and made available to licensed hunters. The bill takes effect on January 1, 2027.
- What is the current status of S 4954?
- As of January 8, 2026, S 4954 is recorded as "Introduced": it has been introduced and is waiting for its first committee hearing or floor vote. The last recorded action, on January 7, 2026, was "REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION".
- Did S 4954 pass?
- Not yet. S 4954 has been introduced and has not passed either house.
- Who wrote S 4954, and where is it now?
- S 4954 was authored by Sen. Peter Harckham with 1 coauthor. Its committee of record is Senate Environmental Conservation.
| Jan. 07, 2026 | REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION |
| Feb. 14, 2025 | REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION |
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4954 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. HARCKHAM, HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Environ- mental Conservation AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to prohibiting the use of lead ammunition in the taking of wildlife on state-owned land and land contributing surface water to the New York city water supply The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 11-0901 of the environmental 2 conservation law is amended by adding a new paragraph h to read as 3 follows: 4 h. Wildlife shall not be taken with the use of lead ammunition on: (1) 5 wildlife management areas, state forests, forest preserves, state parks 6 or any other state-owned land that is open for hunting; and (2) the land 7 area contributing surface water to the New York city water supply. For 8 the purposes of this paragraph "lead ammunition" shall mean any ammuni- 9 tion that contains one or more percent of lead by weight. 10 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 11-0323 of the environmental conserva- 11 tion law, as separately amended by section 19 of part H of chapter 58 12 and chapter 342 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 13 2. The department shall also prepare a syllabus of such laws and 14 information informing migratory game bird hunters where they can obtain 15 information regarding open seasons and bag limits, lead ammunition 16 prohibitions, federal regulations pursuant to sections 11-1721 and 17 11-1723 of this article and of laws relating to invasive species (as 18 defined in section 9-1703 of this chapter). The department shall deliver 19 copies of such syllabus to county, city, town and village clerks in 20 numbers sufficient for the furnishing of one copy to each person to whom 21 a hunting, trapping or fishing license is issued. Each such licensee 22 shall be entitled to one copy of such syllabus. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03037-01-5S. 4954 2 1 § 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2027. Effective immediate- 2 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation 3 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 4 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.