S. 4912 Introduced Agriculture and Food

BUFFER Act

A bill to amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to clarify land eligible for enrollment in the conservation reserve program.

  1. Introduced
  2. Committee
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Passed House
  5. To President
  6. Became law
Sponsor Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] Introduced June 24, 2026 Cosponsors 1 (1 I) Latest action June 24, 2026

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.

Summary by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

Congress.gov

Actions

  1. Jun 24, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  2. Jun 24, 2026 Introduced in Senate

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