NOAA is offering grants for transformational habitat restoration and coastal resilience.

The principal objective of this solicitation is to support transformational projects that restore marine, estuarine, coastal, or Great Lakes ecosystems, using approaches that enhance community and ecosystem resilience to climate hazards. Funding will prioritize habitat restoration actions that: demonstrate significant impacts; rebuild productive and sustainable fisheries; contribute to the recovery and conservation of threatened and endangered species; promote climate-resilient ecosystems, especially in tribal or underserved communities; and improve economic vitality, including local employment. This solicitation is authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58), 135 STAT. 1356 (Nov. 15, 2021).

This funding opportunity seeks projects that enhance coastal resilience. Coastal areas support the nation’s largest and often fastest-growing population centers, as well as key natural assets. Strengthening coastal resilience means preparing and adapting coastal communities to mitigate the impacts of, and more quickly recover after, extreme events such as hurricanes, coastal storms, flooding, and sea level rise. Habitat restoration and natural and nature-based infrastructure are critical to doing so, by protecting lives and property; sustaining commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing; recovering threatened and endangered species; and maintaining and fostering vibrant coastal economies. This funding opportunity – along with other opportunities for the National Oceans and Security Fund, Coastal Zone Management, National Estuarine Research Reserves, and Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience in Underserved Communities – aims to fund projects that support the overarching goal of enhancing coastal resilience. This funding opportunity focuses on high-value, transformative projects that advance resilience and support habitat restoration.

Applicants should address the following set of program priorities: 1) sustaining productive fisheries and strengthening ecosystem resilience; 2) fostering regionally important habitat restoration; 3) enhancing community resilience to climate hazards and providing other co-benefits; and 4) providing benefit to underserved communities, including through partnerships with tribes. This solicitation will fund projects that demonstrate high priority and transformative potential within the geographic region where restoration actions are proposed.

Projects that are most responsive to the program priorities and are more transformative (i.e., have higher positive impact) will be more competitive. Proposals may include the following types of project phases: planning and assessments; feasibility studies; engineering design and permitting; on-the-ground implementation; pre- and/or post-implementation monitoring; or any combination of phases thereof. Proposals may also include capacity-building and stakeholder engagement to support the proposed restoration. Applicants proposing pre-implementation activities should demonstrate how these efforts will support or catalyze subsequent on-the-ground restoration. Proposals that include on-the-ground implementation will be given priority compared to those that include only pre-implementation activities. Proposals that include multiple sites should demonstrate how projects collectively contribute to the priorities within the same geographic area or watershed, and applicants should demonstrate the capacity to manage concurrent habitat restoration projects over multiple years.

NOAA is committed to the goals of advancing equity and support for underserved communities. NOAA encourages applicants to include and demonstrate principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility through proactive, meaningful, and equitable community engagement in the identification, design, and/or implementation of proposed projects. NOAA also encourages applicants to propose projects with benefits to tribal or underserved communities. Applicants should identify if the project is located within tribal or underserved communities and/or whether a portion of the resilience benefits from the proposed work will flow to tribal or underserved communities.

Proposals selected for funding through this solicitation will be funded through cooperative agreements. NOAA encourages a period of performance of up to three years, with the potential for up to five years, if necessary. Awards may be structured as multi-year awards where the funding for the second and/or third year should be estimated in the proposal, with final amounts determined in future years, pending future federal appropriations and progress towards project milestones.

NOAA anticipates typical federal funding for awards will range from $3 million to $8 million over three years. NOAA will not accept proposals with a federal funding request of less than $1 million or more than $15 million total for the entire award. Funds will be administered by the NOAA Restoration Center.