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S. 4912

U.S. Senate•In Senate Committee

Summary

S. 4912, the BUFFER Act, was introduced in the Senate on Jun 24, 2026 by Sen. Peter Welch (D) with 1 co-sponsor. It was referred to Agriculture, Nutrition, And Forestry, and last saw action on Jun 24, 2026: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Record

Text

S. 4912 has 1 co-sponsor.

sb4912/introduced-in-senate.txt
119 S4912 IS: Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience Act
 U.S. Senate
 2026-06-24
 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.
 II  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  S. 4912  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   June 24, 2026   Mr. Welch  (for himself and  Mr. Sanders ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry    A BILL
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to clarify land eligible for enrollment in the conservation reserve program.
1.
Short title
This 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 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.
 .

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2026-06-24
  2. Passed Senate
  3. Passed House
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Introduced in Senate Jun 24, 2026

sb4912/introduced-in-senate.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in Senate (06/24/2026)

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.

Sponsors

Sen. Peter Welch (D) sponsors S. 4912, and 1 member has co-sponsored it from the day it was introduced.

Committees

S. 4912 went before 1 committee: Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Referred To · Jun 24, 2026 · 334 Bills

Actions

S. 4912 has taken 2 actions since Jun 24, 2026.

ChamberAction
Jun 24, 2026
Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
Jun 24, 2026
—
Introduced in Senate

Votes

S. 4912 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to S. 4912, as Identical bill.

Titles

S. 4912 goes by 4 titles, 2 of them short titles.

  • BUFFER Act — Display Title
  • BUFFER Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • A bill to amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to clarify land eligible for enrollment in the conservation reserve program. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

2 clients hired 2 firms and 4 registered lobbyists who named S. 4912 in 4 quarterly filings, 2025. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities, Science/Technology.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
TECHNEST SOLUTIONS S.L.A. DBA FORTRIS ON BEHALF OF NEXUSONE CONSULTINGDigital asset treasury operations platform—13$90K
TRON BLOCKCHAIN AND DAO (AS SUPPORTED BY TRON TECH LIMITED AND RAINCO PTE LTD.)Decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) using blockchain technology—11$80K

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
CURRENTSTRATEGIC LLC13$90K
KELLEY DRYE & WARREN LLP11$80K

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
PATRICK LYDEN113
JEFFREY HUNTER111
MATTHEW LUZADDER111
SCOTT MCGEE111

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
TRON BLOCKCHAIN AND DAO (AS SUPPORTED BY TRON TECH LIMITED AND RAINCO PTE LTD.)KELLEY DRYE & WARREN LLP2025 first_quarter$80K1st Quarter - Report
TECHNEST SOLUTIONS S.L.A. DBA FORTRIS ON BEHALF OF NEXUSONE CONSULTINGCURRENTSTRATEGIC LLC2025 fourth_quarter$40K4th Quarter - Report
TECHNEST SOLUTIONS S.L.A. DBA FORTRIS ON BEHALF OF NEXUSONE CONSULTINGCURRENTSTRATEGIC LLC2025 third_quarter$30K3rd Quarter - Report
TECHNEST SOLUTIONS S.L.A. DBA FORTRIS ON BEHALF OF NEXUSONE CONSULTINGCURRENTSTRATEGIC LLC2025 second_quarter$20K2nd Quarter - Amendme…

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files S. 4912 under Agriculture and Food, one of its 31 policy areas.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; S. 4912’s is Agriculture and Food.

s4912/policy-areas.txt
Agriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com