SACRAMENTO — The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill to prohibit deer hunters from using lead ammunition in areas where California condors roam.

The action means that, after the Assembly restates its approval within a few days, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will have to decide whether a law is needed to protect the endangered condor from the growing risk of lead poisoning.

"It's a great day," said Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, who has fought for three years to pass a condor-protection bill.

The measure would require hunters to use bullets made of copper or some other nontoxic material. Conservationists, backed by the principal manufacturer of copper ammunition, say that nonlead bullets perform just as well and are available in sufficient supply to meet the demands of California hunters.

The measure is opposed by hunting and firearms groups, which argue that copper ammunition is more expensive and not available for every caliber of rifle used by deer hunters.

Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, noted 17 condors have been treated at the Los Angeles Zoo this summer for lead poisoning, and one died. Scientists have determined lead ammunition, which the condors ingest while foraging on carcasses of wild animals shot by hunters, is the principal source of the poisoning.

Asking hunters to use slightly more expensive ammunition in order to preserve an endangered species, Kuehl said, "is little enough to ask."

The Senate approved AB 821 on a 23-15 vote along party lines, with majority Democrats in support. It now returns to the Assembly, which passed the bill earlier this year but now must give final approval to minor changes that were included in the version approved by the Senate.

Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, an avid hunter, said the ban on lead ammunition would have negative fiscal consequences because many hunters would decide to either not hunt or to do so in other states.

Hollingsworth also argued that "the science is just not there" to justify the ban. "This may be well-intentioned," he said, "but it is misguided."

Nava said he expects both sides will lobby heavily in attempts to persuade Schwarzenegger to either sign or veto the bill. "This fight is far from over," he said.

The California Fish and Game Commission is considering enacting a regulatory ban that would accomplish the same goal.

Nava said enacting a law would be the better approach.

"A regulation can be changed by a vote of the commission at any time," he said. "The condor's future shouldn't be subject to that kind of gamble."