The BUFFER Act (Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience Act) changes the rules for which farmland can participate in a federal conservation program. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pays farmers to take environmentally sensitive or easily eroded land out of production and instead use conservation practices like planting cover crops or native grasses.

Currently, if a state, local, or tribal government has laws requiring farmers to protect the environment or conserve resources, that land becomes ineligible for the federal CRP payments. This creates a catch-22: farmers in areas with strong environmental protections can't get federal conservation money even though they're doing conservation work. The BUFFER Act fixes this by allowing land to qualify for CRP payments even if state or local environmental laws apply to it. The only exception is if a court or government agency has issued a specific order requiring the conservation practice—in that case, the land still wouldn't qualify.

In practical terms, this helps farmers in states with stricter environmental rules access federal conservation payments they're currently locked out of. It removes a barrier that has prevented some farmers from participating in a program designed to reward them for protecting the land.

BUFFER Act

Balint, Becca

Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience Act or the BUFFER ActThis bill provides that certain land (that is under state regulations) is&nbsp;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.&nbsp;&nbsp;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&nbsp;under the program if the implementation&nbsp;requirement has been imposed by an administrative order or a court order.Current regulations&nbsp;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.