Congress·In Committee·H.R. 9572

BUFFER Act

Conservation Reserve Program: Expanding Land Eligibility

Jul 2·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Next up: A house committee

This bill is in the early stages of the legislative process and is sitting with the House Committee on Agriculture. The committee must review the bill before it can move forward, but no action has taken place since July 1, 2026. Most bills do not receive a committee vote, so this proposal is currently stalled.

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Unlikely to pass

This bill was introduced by a single member late in the session and has not yet gained the bipartisan support needed to pass.

Key Points

This bill updates the rules for the Conservation Reserve Program. This is a federal program that pays farmers to stop farming on land that needs environmental protection.
It allows land to be eligible for the program even if local or state laws already require the owner to use conservation practices.
Right now, some farmers might be blocked from the program if their local government already has environmental rules for their land. This bill would change that.
The bill makes an exception for land that is under a court order. Those owners still cannot get federal payments for fixes they were forced to make by a judge.
The goal is to make sure farmers get federal support for protecting their land even if they live in areas with strong local environmental laws.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Jul 2, 2026House

Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Jul 2, 2026

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

No votes or news coverage recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

BUFFER Act

Bill NumberHR 9572

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.