Administration, NOAA Propose $575 Million to Increase Coastal Climate Resilience 

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced recently that the Department of Commerce and NOAA are recommending $575 million in funding across 19 projects to boost climate resilience in the nation’s coastal and Great Lakes states and territories. 

As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Agenda, NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge is a competitive grant program, and awards are made under NOAA’s Climate-Ready Coasts and Communities Initiative and are funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in history. President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is driving more than $50 billion to build resilience to the effects of climate change in communities across the country.

“As part of President Biden’s commitment to combatting the climate crisis, we are investing $575 million to help make sure America’s coastal communities are more resilient to the effects of climate change,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “This is a historic investment in our nation’s climate resilience, the largest in the history of the Commerce Department, and a key piece of the Biden-Harris Administrations’ ambitious climate agenda. Thanks to this Administration’s commitment to investing in America, we’re going to continue to help underserved communities across the country develop and implement new strategies to protect themselves from flooding, storm surge, and extreme weather events.” 

This competitive award program, administered by NOAA, was first announced in early 2023 and is one of the most popular Inflation Reduction Act programs. NOAA received nearly 870 letters of intent, requesting over $16 billion in funding, for the program. Of these, 120 applicants were selected to submit full proposals, which totaled more than $3 billion in combined requests. NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative which set a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments go to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. 

“From sea level rise and storm surges to eroding infrastructure, coastal communities are on the frontlines of dealing with the worsening impacts of the climate crisis,” said National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, we are driving progress and innovation in climate resilience across the board, using every tool in our nation’s toolbox to fight climate change and safeguard communities. With the historic funding being announced today, paired with the administration’s newly released Climate Resilience Game Changers Assessment, we are working collaboratively with state, local, and tribal governments to build capacity, upgrade aging infrastructure, and protect our most vulnerable communities from climate impacts.”

“Coastal communities are already on the front lines of experiencing the impacts of extreme weather fueled by the climate crisis,” said John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy. “These grants will better equip them to design locally-led projects to build a stronger and more resilient future in a warming world.”

This funding opportunity was offered in two tracks. Planning and capacity building awards are focused on communities and regions that are either initiating or advancing existing collaborative efforts designed to improve coastal resilience. These make up 11 of the 19 projects that are recommended to receive funding, with the average award amount of $1.8 million.

These projects would enable states and communities to:

• Build and expand regional partnerships; 
• Engage and partner with historically marginalized, overburdened communities, including tribes;  
• Assess susceptibility to risks of climate change;
• Plan resilience strategies and adaptation actions; and 
• Build community and workforce capacity for climate adaptation efforts.

Implementation awards encompass 8 transformational projects that are recommended for funding with amounts that range between $56 million and $75 million over five years. Total funding for these awards is approximately $555 million. 

These funds would be used by states and communities for: 

• Acquiring vulnerable land;
• Building natural infrastructure; 
• Improving the resilience of public infrastructure; 
• Strengthening and protecting public access to coastal natural resources; 
• Building regional capacity for ongoing actions that increase resilience; and 
• Updating state and local codes and policies. 

“This unprecedented investment will be transformative for our nation's coasts following an extremely competitive award program,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Equity and inclusion, community engagement, and regional coordination are critical elements of this funding and NOAA’s efforts to build Climate-Ready Coasts.” 

Additionally, NOAA is providing technical assistance to the award recipients to support successful implementation of their projects. 

The 19 projects recommended for funding are in the following locations:

• Alaska: $78.9 million total: $74.9 million - 1 implementation award; $4 million - 2 planning awards
• California: $71.1 million - 1 implementation award
• Delaware, Maryland, Virginia: $1.97 million total - 1 planning Award
• Federated States of Micronesia: $2 million - 1 planning award
• Hawaii: $68.4 million -1 implementation award
• Louisiana: $59.8 million total: $56.6 million - 1 implementation award; $3.2 million - 2 planning awards
• Maine: $69 million - 1 implementation award
• Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin: $1.45 million total - 1 planning award
• Minnesota: $1.85 million - 1 planning award
• New Jersey: $72.5 million - 1 implementation award
• Ohio: $1.3 million - 1 planning award
• Rhode Island: $2 million - 1 planning award 
• Washington:  $75.6 million total: $73.6 million - 1 implementation award; $2 million - 1 planning award
• U.S. Virgin Islands: $69 million - 1 implementation award

NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge competitive grant program is focused on collaborative projects that increase the resilience of coastal communities to extreme weather and other climate change impacts, including sea level rise and drought and contributes to the vision laid out in the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Climate Resilience Framework. Additional information is available on the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge website.