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H.R. 9572

U.S. House•In House Committee

Summary

H.R. 9572, the BUFFER Act, was introduced in the House on Jul 2, 2026 by Rep. Becca Balint (D). It was referred to Agriculture, and last saw action on Jul 2, 2026: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Record

Text

H.R. 9572 has no co-sponsors and has not gone to a roll call.

hb9572/introduced-in-house.txt
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 CONGRESS  2d 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 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. Introduced2026-07-02
  2. Passed House
  3. Passed Senate
  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 House Jul 2, 2026

hb9572/introduced-in-house.md

Shown Here:
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.

Sponsors

Rep. Becca Balint (D) sponsors H.R. 9572 alone.

Becca Balint

Rep. · D–VT · Sponsor

Committees

H.R. 9572 went before 1 committee: Agriculture.

Agriculture
Agriculture
Referred To · Jul 2, 2026 · 226 Bills

Actions

H.R. 9572 has taken 2 actions since Jul 2, 2026.

ChamberAction
Jul 2, 2026
House
Introduced in House
Jul 2, 2026
House
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.Agriculture Committee

Votes

H.R. 9572 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to H.R. 9572, as Identical bill.

Titles

H.R. 9572 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
  • To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to clarify land eligible for enrollment in the conservation reserve program. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

3 clients hired 3 firms and 11 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 9572 in 7 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 Health Issues, Medicare/Medicaid, Veterans.

Clients

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

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
COLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS—District of Columbia13—
US PHYSICIAN PARTNERS (INFORMAL COALITION)Informal coalition of physician providers related to surprise emergency medical bills.District of Columbia12$200K
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS—District of Columbia12—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
COLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS13—
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS12—
SIMS STRATEGIES, LLC12$200K

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
DARREN FENWICK113
HANNAH BURRISS113
KRISTIN MCDONALD113
MICHAEL GIULIANI113
MICHAEL HURLBUT113
CAVAN JONES112
EDWARD PRETTYMAN112
MANUEL BONILLA112
MATTHEW POPOVICH112
MICHAELA SIMS112
NORA MATUS112

Filings

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

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTSAMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS2025 second_quarter$270K2nd Quarter - Report
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTSAMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS2025 first_quarter$250K1st Quarter - Report
COLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTSCOLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS2025 first_quarter$217.6K1st Quarter - Report
COLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTSCOLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS2025 second_quarter$149.4K2nd Quarter - Report
COLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTSCOLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS2025 third_quarter$124.8K3rd Quarter - Report
US PHYSICIAN PARTNERS (INFORMAL COALITION)SIMS STRATEGIES, LLC2025 second_quarter$110K2nd Quarter - Report
US PHYSICIAN PARTNERS (INFORMAL COALITION)SIMS STRATEGIES, LLC2025 first_quarter$90K1st Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 9572 under Agriculture and Food, one of its 31 policy areas.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 9572’s is Agriculture and Food.

hr9572/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

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 9572, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 110 (Thursday, July 2, 2026)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Ms. BALINT:H.R. 9572.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article 1, Section 8[Page H4370]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com