CSO Welcomes Announcement of $575 Million for Climate Resilience Regional Challenge

Today, NOAA announced $575 million in awards for the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge to implement projects in coastal states and territories to increase resilience to extreme weather events and other climate impacts. The Climate Resilience Regional Challenge is supporting projects under two distinct tracks:

Track one: Approximately $20 million for Regional Collaborative Building and Strategy Development which focuses on improving communities’ ability to effectively implement future resilience efforts;
Track two: Approximately $555 million for the Implementation of Resilience and Adaptation Actions with a focus on implementing climate adaptation actions.

These one-time funds, provided through the Inflation Reduction Act, will support 19 regionally focused projects in communities around the country, including in CA, HI, LA, ME, NJ, OH, RI, VI, the Great Lakes (MI, MN and WI) and Mid-Atlantic (DE, MD, VA). Awards range from $1.3 million to more than $74 million. Projects include:

• Development and implementation of the Education, Climate Awareness, Training, and Engagement (EduCATE) Initiative to provide education, workforce development, training, and entrepreneurship opportunities throughout the region in New Jersey.
• Enhance community resilience in the U.S. Virgin Islands by acquiring properties at risk from development, creating a working group that will help guide the implementation of nature-based solutions throughout the territory; and training area youth regarding nature-based solutions, which will also provide local capacity for conducting restoration projects.
• Habitat restoration, the realignment of State Route 112, shoreline restoration, and stormwater drainage improvements, as well as advancing project planning and design, growing an invigorated, climate-informed workforce and strengthening regional coalitions that will advance integrated and equitable coastal management in Washington.
• 16 other projects to increase resilience in coastal communities. The full list of project grantees and description is available on NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management website.

“Today, 19 regional coastal resilience projects were funded to help coastal communities improve their resilience to the rapidly increasing hazards resulting from climate change, including rising sea levels and more extreme weather events.” said Derek Brockbank, Executive Director of Coastal States Organization. “While this latest influx of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act continues the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investment in coastal resilience, it’s also a drop in the bucket of what is needed. Every community along a coastline will need significant investments to prepare for climate change.”

For more information contact: Rebecca Dennis, Director of Federal Affairs, rdennis@coastalstates.org; 313-806-5281.