“Over the past 9 months, funding for coastal management and specific coastal projects has been subject to uncertainty, delays, and recissions by the administration. The shutdown exacerbates this volatile funding environment by creating further uncertainty and additional delays heading into the new fiscal year.
A shutdown of programming at NOAA and other federal agencies impacts coastal communities not only by delaying funds related to coastal management, but also by stalling coastal research, limiting the utilization of critical federally funded coastal planning tools, such as Digital Coast, and hampering the federal response to coastal emergencies. This comes at a time when agencies already are facing limited capacity to carry out core functions due to persistent layoffs and retirements.
Funding the federal government is the responsibility of Congress and I believe that there must be a bipartisan negotiation and compromise. The House and Senate, through their respective Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bills, have already proposed maintaining funding for coastal management grants at $81.5 for FY 2026. A year-long omnibus appropriations bill that includes specific funding levels for CZM presents the greatest opportunity to secure necessary and sustainable funding for coastal zone management programs to support local coastal communities.”
— Derek Brockbank, CSO Executive Director
