December 19, 2024 (Washington, DC) – Yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the America’s Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act (S. 3791), a bipartisan bill to bolster fish, wildlife, and habitat conservation, and to protect access for anglers across the nation. Notably, this marks the fourth Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) priority that has cleared the House of Representatives under suspension of the rules and the Senate unanimously this Congress, demonstrating the ability of CSF to deliver wins for sportsmen and women regardless of the political landscape.
This legislation is led in the Senate by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Members Sens. Carper, Capito, CSC Leaders Sens. Boozman and King, among others. The House companion bill is led by current CSC Members and former CSC Leaders Reps. Wittman, M. Thompson, Dingell, and current CSC Co-Chair Rep. Panetta, among others.
First enacted in 2020, the ACE Act has been a longstanding priority for CSF. Prior to the Senate’s passage of the ACE Reauthorization Act, CSF worked to build support for this important priority through a House floor alert, urging cosponsorship of the bill to demonstrate broad Congressional support, among other efforts that helped push the bill to the President’s desk.
“CSF thanks the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus Members who were instrumental in seeing the ACE Reauthorization Act clear Congress and head to the President’s desk for his signature. This legislation demonstrates yet again that conservation and issues of importance to sportsmen and women continue to be bipartisan issues across Congress,” said CSF President and CEO Jeff Crane. “We look forward to the President quickly signing this bill into law to deliver on-the-ground, meaningful conservation for fish and wildlife as well as a key protection for our nation’s anglers.”
Specifically, the ACE Reauthorization Act includes conservation programs such as the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) and the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) program. NAWCA provides strategic investments to conserving and restoring degraded wetlands across North America. Since its inception 35 years ago, NAWCA has provided over $2.1 billion in federal grants that has leveraged more than $5 billion in non-federal contributions. In total, there have been over 3,300 NAWCA projects that have contributed to the conservation of nearly 32 million acres of wetlands in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. NFHP is a state and locally driven collection of partnerships that work to conserve priority aquatic habitat, restore fish populations, and enhance recreational fishing opportunities. CSF’s Senior Director, Fisheries Policy, was recently reappointed to serve on the Congressionally authorized NFHP Board that offers guidance for the partnerships and helps direct funding for on-the-ground projects.
Furthermore, the ACE Reauthorization Act will provide a 5-year protection to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating the use of lead fishing tackle under the purview of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Despite efforts by the environmental community, the EPA has consistently reaffirmed that they do not have the authority to regulate lead tackle under TSCA.
CSF thanks the bill sponsors of the America’s Conservation Enhancement Act for their continued leadership throughout the 118th Congress.
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