Only the left has signed this so far (Bill Ranking)
H.R. 9572 · 119th Congress (2025-2026)
1 member · Left 1 · Center 0 · Right 0 (Bill Ranking)
| Sponsor | Rep. Balint, Becca (D-VT) (Introduced 07/02/2026) |
|---|---|
| Sponsor Voting Record | Lean left · DW-NOMINATE -0.44 · measured from every roll-call vote this member has cast (voteview.com) (Sponsor Ranking) |
| Support |
LLLCLRR support across the spectrum: 1 member signed on (Bill Ranking) this bill: sponsor + current cosponsors, each once |
| Committees | House - Agriculture Committee |
| Latest Action | 07/02/2026 Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. |
| Roll Call Votes | There have been no roll call votes |
| Source | view on congress.gov → |
Introduced in House (07/02/2026)
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.
119 HR 9572 IH: Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience Act U.S. House of Representatives 2026-07-02 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. I 119th CONGRESS2d Session H. R. 9572
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.
1.Short titleThis Act may be cited as the Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience Act or the BUFFER Act.
2.Eligible land under the conservation reserve programSection 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..
The bill's own words, from our database (synced from the GPO BILLS XML); paragraph breaks added at the bill's section boundaries, nothing else changed.
| Date | Chamber | All Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 07/02/2026 | Library of Congress | Introduced in House |
| 07/02/2026 | Library of Congress | Introduced in House |
| 07/02/2026 | House floor actions | Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. |
| Title Type | Title |
|---|---|
| Display Title | BUFFER Act |
| Short Title(s) as Introduced | BUFFER Act |
| Short Title(s) as Introduced | Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience Act |
| Official Title as Introduced | To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to clarify land eligible for enrollment in the conservation reserve program. |
There are no amendments to this bill.
There are no cosponsors of this bill.
| Committee | Activity |
|---|---|
| House - Agriculture Committee | 07/02/2026 Referred To |
Policy Area: Agriculture and Food
No legislative subjects have been assigned yet.
All data on this page comes from our own database (legislation.congress_* tables), synced daily from the GPO govinfo BILLSTATUS and BILLS collections. Formatted after congress.gov; nothing is generated. Member placement is their DW-NOMINATE score (voteview.com, Lewis et al.) - a measurement of roll-call voting behavior, not our judgement. Buckets: Left below −0.50 · Lean Left to −0.25 · Center to +0.25 · Lean Right to +0.50 · Right above +0.50. The bill's Support meter aggregates the people who signed the bill - sponsor and current cosponsors, each counted once - nothing else.