HR9572Referred to Committee

BUFFER Act

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2026-07-02
Introduced
0
Cosponsors
HR
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Becca Balint
Becca Balint
Democrat · VT · Representative
Votes with party: 98.0% (602 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/B001318

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (0)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

No cosponsors on record. Bills can pass without cosponsors — this often means the sponsor introduced the bill alone, either because it's a messaging bill, a chairman's mark, or simply early in the legislative cycle.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

2026-07-02

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

Plain-English Summary

The proposal would clarify which types of land can be enrolled in a federal program that pays farmers to take environmentally sensitive acres out of production and protect them through conservation practices. This affects farmers and landowners who participate in the conservation reserve program, as well as taxpayers funding the initiative, by making the rules clearer about what land qualifies for these payments.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 9572 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9572 To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to clarify land eligible for enrollment in the conservation reserve program. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 2, 2026 Ms. Balint introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to clarify land eligible for enrollment in the conservation reserve program. 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 the ``Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience Act'' or the ``BUFFER Act''. SEC. 2. ELIGIBLE LAND UNDER THE CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM. Section 1231(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(b)) is amended-- (1) in paragraph (6)(B)(ii), by striking ``or'' at the end; (2) in paragraph (7)-- (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking ``as determined by the Secretary,''; and (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; or''; and (3) by adding at the end the following: ``(8) land that is otherwise eligible for enrollment and for which a Tribal, State, or other local law, ordinance, or other regulation requires any resource-conserving or environmental protection measure or practice, unless the requirement to implement such a measure or practice has been imposed by an administrative order or a court order, in which case that land shall not be eligible for enrollment.''. <all>
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