{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://balint.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=770", "Balint, Welch, Sanders Lead Reintroduction of Bill to Help Protect Vermont Farmland from Flooding", "2026-07-10", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Becca Balint", "B001318", "balint.house.gov", "balint", "https://balint.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Representative Becca Balint (D-VT-AL), U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), 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\u2019s (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) funding to implement buffer zones, agricultural tools used by farmers to protect farmland from flooding, erosion, and water pollution.\n\n\u201cAs climate change brings more frequent and severe extreme weather events, it\u2019s critical that farmers in Vermont and across the country have the tools they need to protect their land and livelihoods,\u201d said Rep. Balint. \u201cAhead of the anniversary of the catastrophic 2023 and 2024 floods, I\u2019m proud to be reintroducing the BUFFER Act alongside our Senators. Our delegation stands united in support of Vermonters as folks continue to rebuild.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur 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,\u201d said Senator Welch. \u201cI\u2019m proud to partner with Senator Sanders and Rep. Balint on this legislation to help Vermont farmers better mitigate flooding risk and protect our state\u2019s farmland from natural disasters.\u201d\n\n\u201cVermont 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\u2019s water quality and protect their land from the kind of damage we saw over the past few years,\u201d said Senator Sanders.\n\nThe delegation first introduced the legislation in direct response to Vermont\u2019s catastrophic July 2023 floods.\n\nBuffer 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\u2019s (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CREP) to implement buffers in their fields. However, because the State of Vermont has a buffer mandate, USDA\u2019s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has required Vermont to follow an arduous process to access CREP buffer funding. These bureaucratic barriers have hampered Vermonters\u2019 ability to use this vital conservation tool and receive compensation for their preventative work.\n\nThe 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\u2019s Conservation CREP funding to implement buffer zones, even if state law already requires farmers to maintain buffer zones.\n\nLearn more about the BUFFER Act.\n\nRead and download the full text of the legislation.\n\n###", 1, "2026-07-12T07:28:31Z", "2026-07-12T07:30:18Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://balint.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=770"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5172800049185753, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}