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S. 4912 119th Congress Senate

BUFFER Act

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

Introduced: June 24, 2026 Introduced by: Peter Welch Democratic · Vermont See on congress.gov
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jun 24, 2026
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Jun 24, 2026
Introduced in Senate
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What's happening now June 24, 2026

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

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.

 Related & companion bills 3
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 4912: BUFFER Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-4912/
MLA
"S. 4912: BUFFER Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-4912/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 4912, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-4912/.
Markdown link
[S. 4912: BUFFER Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-4912/)
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