119-hr4180

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4180 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4180

 To prohibit the use of M-44 devices, commonly known as ``cyanide 
 bombs'', on public land, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 June 26, 2025

Mr. Huffman (for himself, Mr. Cohen, Ms. DelBene, Ms. Norton, Mr. Min, 
Ms. Schakowsky, and Ms. Brownley) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to 
 the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently 
 determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To prohibit the use of M-44 devices, commonly known as ``cyanide 
 bombs'', on public land, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as ``Canyon's Law''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Sodium cyanide is the highly toxic pesticide active 
 ingredient used in M-44 devices, also known as ``cyanide 
 bombs'', and is used to kill coyotes, foxes, and wild dogs 
 suspected of preying on livestock and poultry.

    (2) Sodium cyanide is registered for restricted use under 
 the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 
 U.S.C. 136 et seq.) as a Category One acute toxicant, the most 
 hazardous Environmental Protection Agency classification 
 available, due to the harm it poses to people and the 
 environment.

    (3) Poisoning by sodium cyanide leads to central nervous 
 system depression, cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, 
 paralysis, and blindness.

    (4) The Environmental Protection Agency authorizes the use 
 of M-44 devices nationwide, and in recent years, M-44s were 
 used in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, 
 Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

    (5) In 2017, an M-44 device exposed an Idaho child to a 
 sublethal dose of sodium cyanide with subsequent short-term and 
 long-term medical complications. Two Wyoming children were also 
 exposed to the poison from another M-44 device. Three family 
 dogs died in these two separate incidents.

    (6) More than 50 family dogs have been documented as killed 
 by M-44 devices since 1990, and the full count is estimated to 
 be significantly higher.

    (7) The indiscriminate M-44 device commonly harms nontarget 
 wildlife and people; at least 42 people have accidentally 
 triggered a cyanide bomb causing exposure to cyanide gas and 
 injuries since 1984.

    (8) A Utah man, who was poisoned by an M-44 in 2003 and 
 permanently disabled, died in 2018 with cyanide poisoning from 
 exposure to an M-44 device listed as a contributing cause of 
 death on his death certificate.

    (9) M-44 devices kill targeted animals only 53 percent of 
 the time. Thousands of nontarget species of animals have been 
 killed by M-44s, including bald eagles, golden eagles, gray 
 wolves, black bears, grizzly bears, bobcats, fishers, and 
 family dogs.

    (10) Despite the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
 determining in 1993 that M-44 devices could kill endangered 
 species like the California Condor, the use of the M-44 
 continues in areas where endangered species are found and 
 continues to result in the deaths of endangered species.

SEC. 3. USE OF M-44 DEVICES ON PUBLIC LAND PROHIBITED.

    (a) In General.--Preparing, placing, installing, setting, 
deploying, or otherwise using an M-44 device on public land is 
prohibited.

    (b) Removal.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, any Federal, State, or county agency that has 
prepared, placed, installed, set, or deployed an M-44 device on public 
land shall remove each such M-44 device from public land.
            (c) === Definitions. ===
-In this Act:

    (1) M-44 device.--
        (A) In general.--The term ``M-44 device'' means a 
 device designed to propel sodium cyanide when triggered 
 by an animal.
        (B) Common names.--The term ``M-44 device'' 
 includes any device that may be commonly known as an 
 ``M-44 ejector device'' or an ``M-44 predator control 
 device''.

    (2) Public land.--The term ``public land'' means any 
 Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of a public 
 land management agency.

    (3) Public land management agency.--The term ``public land 
 management agency'' means each of, or a combination of, the 
 following:
        (A) The National Park Service.
        (B) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
            (C) The Bureau of Land Management.
            (D) The Bureau of Reclamation.
        (E) The Forest Service.
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