BUFFER Act
Latest action · Jul 2, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJul 2, 2026
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience Act or the BUFFER Act
This bill provides that certain land (that is under state regulations) is eligible to participate under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Under CRP, the Department of Agriculture provides annual payments to agricultural producers to take highly erodible and environmentally sensitive land out of production and install resource-conserving practices.
Specifically, land otherwise eligible under the program remains eligible for enrollment even if a tribal, state, or other local law, ordinance, or other regulation requires any resource-conserving or environmental protection measure or practice. The bill includes an exception that makes the land ineligible under the program if the implementation requirement has been imposed by an administrative order or a court order.
Current regulations exclude from enrollment eligibility (with exceptions) land that is subject to tribal, state, or other local laws, ordinances, or other regulations that require any resource-conserving or environmental protection measures or practices.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Agriculture Committee | Referred Jul 2, 2026 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 2, 2026Introduced in House
- Jul 2, 2026Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 110, July 2, 2026, page H4370.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 4912 | BUFFER Act | Identical bill | Jun 24, 2026 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to clarify land eligible for enrollment in the conservation reserve program.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- BUFFER Act
- Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Agriculture and Food.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jul 2, 2026Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
