Federal Coastal Management Program: Grants for Special Merit Projects to Improve Coastal Management

Any State or Territorial coastal zone management program that has been approved by NOAA pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1455) is eligible under this announcement if the requirements established at � 923.121 are met. Applicants must have successfully completed an approved Assessment and Strategy which includes an approved strategy for one or more of the priority enhancement areas identified in Section I.B to be eligible for funding under this announcement. In addition to strategies approved as part of the Assessment and Strategy, approved strategies include added or substantially modified strategies that were approved by NOAA’s Office and Coastal Resource Management prior to the start of the competition. Strategies added or substantially modified after the date on which this notice was published are not approved strategies for the purposes of this competition. The designated lead agency for implementing each approved CMP is eligible to submit projects for funding under this competition. For the purposes of this competition, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission is an eligible applicant. Eligible applicants may submit a proposal on behalf of state agency partners within the approved state coastal zone management program network, if applicable. Local governments and nonprofits may participate as partners on the proposed projects; however, projects should be focused upon enhancing the approved coastal zone management program.

PSM funds will be awarded to CMPs competitively. Proposed projects shall further the objectives of an approved enhancement area strategy but shall not be essential to meeting specific benchmarks in the strategy. PSM projects shall not be dependent on long term levels of funding to succeed.