July 2, 2026
Ms. Balint introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
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.