VermontBiz U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, alongside the Vermont Congressional Delegation, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Representative Becca Balint (D-VT-AL), reintroduced the Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience (BUFFER) Act. This bicameral legislation would ensure all states can access the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) funding to implement buffer zones, agricultural tools used by farmers to protect farmland from flooding, erosion, and water pollution.
“Our farmers deserve access to the tools and resources they need to fight climate change and make farmland more flood resilient. An essential part of that has to be cutting through red tape that forces Vermont farmers to jump through more hoops to receive compensation for their work than farmers in other states,” said Senator Welch. “I’m proud to partner with Senator Sanders and Rep. Balint on this legislation to help Vermont farmers better mitigate flooding risk and protect our state’s farmland from natural disasters.”
“Vermont farmers are still recovering from multiple years of flooding. They want to ensure their fields are better protected from future storms, especially in the face of climate change. This important legislation will cut through bureaucracy and ensure our farmers are compensated for their work to improve our state’s water quality and protect their land from the kind of damage we saw over the past few years,” said Senator Sanders.
“As climate change brings more frequent and severe extreme weather events, it’s critical that farmers in Vermont and across the country have the tools they need to protect their land and livelihoods,” said Rep. Balint. “Ahead of the anniversary of the catastrophic 2023 and 2024 floods, I’m proud to be reintroducing the BUFFER Act alongside our Senators. Our delegation stands united in support of Vermonters as folks continue to rebuild.”
The delegation first introduced the legislation in direct response to Vermont’s catastrophic July 2023 floods.
Buffer zones are agricultural tools used by farmers to protect farmland from flooding, erosion, and water pollution, and provide a habitat for pollinators. Like many states, Vermont requires farmers to implement buffer systems. As such, farmers in Vermont have sought to use the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CREP) to implement buffers in their fields. However, because the State of Vermont has a buffer mandate, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has required Vermont to follow an arduous process to access CREP buffer funding. These bureaucratic barriers have hampered Vermonters’ ability to use this vital conservation tool and receive compensation for their preventative work.
The bicameral BUFFER Act aims to ensure that Vermont farmers are compensated for their efforts to improve water quality and protect their fields from flooding. The bill would ensure that all states can access USDA’s Conservation CREP funding to implement buffer zones, even if state law already requires farmers to maintain buffer zones.
Learn more about the BUFFER Act.
Read and download the full text of the legislation.
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