About / Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Awards

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Awards

Funding / Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Awards

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Awards

Fellowship / Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Awards

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Awards

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Awards

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—with funds leveraged from the Inflation Reduction Act—is helping coastal communities build the future they want to see. The legislation provides historic investments in coastal protection and restoration that will increase community resilience to climate change and extreme weather events, and improve how we manage our ocean resources. NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management will administer $832 million from these funds over five years.

Projects selected for the first year were awarded in 2023 and links to the project descriptions can be found below. Approximately $109 million was awarded to support restoration and conservation projects through the National Coastal Zone Management Program and National Estuarine Research Reserve System. At least eight of these projects—totaling more than $20 million—will be carried out in partnership with or directly by tribes, including acquisition and conservation of ecological and culturally significant ancestral lands.

In partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the National Coastal Resilience Fund invested approximately $144 million in 96 projects using these funds, along with their annual appropriation, for projects that will help communities prepare for increasing coastal flooding and more intense storms, while improving thousands of acres of coastal habitats. These enhancements to fish and wildlife habitats also help protect communities from coastal hazards.

In addition to these restoration and conservation projects, approximately $21 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds was awarded to support regional ocean partnership projects and data sharing, including four awards to tribes to enhance their ability to engage with the regional ocean partnerships. Please contact us if you have questions.

National Coastal Zone Management Program
  • Fiscal Year 2023 Awards: Read project descriptions here.

  • Goal: Protect and restore ecologically significant habitats, including conserving lands that play a critical role in helping communities become more resilient to natural hazards.

  • Total Funding: $207 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds over five years, with $44 million in funds leveraged from the Inflation Reduction Act, to support additional projects from the 2022 and 2023 competitions. Approximately $40 million per year in competitive and non-competitive program capacity funds, with competitive projects expected to range in cost from approximately $200,000 up to $6 million per project, depending on project type.

  • Eligible Uses: Habitat restoration; habitat restoration planning, engineering, and design; ecosystem conservation. The majority of infrastructure funding will support competitively selected projects. However, non-competitive funds to support program capacity will be available up to $300,000 per year for each coastal zone management program to support a work plan focused on the Infrastructure Law projects and to address related restoration, conservation, or other Infrastructure Law opportunities that are priorities for the state.

  • Eligible Applicants: CZM programs must serve as the primary applicant. However, funding can be passed through to other non-federal public partners. Projects must be within the coastal zone management boundary or coastal county.

  • Matching Requirements: Neither competitive nor non-competitive funds will require a match. However, leveraged funding is strongly encouraged and will be reviewed in evaluations.

  • Information for Applicants:
National Estuarine Research Reserve System
  • Fiscal Year 2023 Awards: Read project descriptions here.

  • Goal: Protect and restore ecologically significant habitats, including conserving lands that play a critical role in helping communities become more resilient to natural hazards.

  • Total Funding: $77 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds over five years, with $15 million in funds leveraged from the Inflation Reduction Act, to support additional projects from the 2022 and 2023 competitions. Approximately $15 million per year in competitive and non-competitive program capacity funds, with competitive projects expected to range in cost from approximately $200,000 up to $4 million per project, depending on project type.

  • Eligible Uses: Habitat restoration; habitat restoration planning, engineering, and design; ecosystem conservation. The majority of this funding will support competitively selected projects. However, non-competitive funds to support program capacity will be available up to $200,000 per year for each reserve to support work plans focused on the Infrastructure Law projects and to address other coastal resilience-related needs in the state.

  • Eligible Applicants: National Estuarine Research Reserves must serve as primary applicants. However, funding can be passed through to non-federal public partners. Projects within and outside of the reserve boundary are eligible; projects outside the reserve boundary must benefit the reserve, its habitats, and its ecosystem.
  • Matching Requirements: Neither competitive nor non-competitive funds require a match. However, leveraged funding is strongly encouraged and will be reviewed in evaluations.

  • Information for Applicants:
National Coastal Resilience Fund

The National Coastal Resilience Fund is a partnership between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and NOAA to enhance fish and wildlife habitat and protect coastal communities.

  • FY22 first and second slate project descriptions; FY23 first and second slate project descriptions.

  • Goal: Restore, increase, and strengthen natural infrastructure to protect communities while also enhancing habitats for fish and wildlife.

  • Total Funding: $492 million over five years from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, with an additional $46 million in funding leveraged from the Inflation Reduction Act to support additional projects in 2022 and 2023. Approximately $98 million per year in competitive Infrastructure Law funding, and additional annual program funding based on appropriations. The request for proposals issued by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation provides an expected average range of awards by project category. However, these are not considered limits or “hard caps.”

  • Eligible Uses: Habitat restoration-related activities, including community capacity-building and planning; site assessment and preliminary design; final design and permitting; and restoration implementation.

  • Eligible Applicants: State and territorial government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, Indian tribes, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, or commercial (for profit) organizations. Projects must be located within the coastal areas of U.S. coastal states, including territories and the Great Lakes.

  • Matching Requirements: Competitive funds do not require a match. However, leveraged funding is strongly encouraged.

  • Notice of Funding Opportunity: Details about the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's most recent Request for Proposals can be found here.
Regional Ocean Partnerships
  • Fiscal Year 2023 Awards: Additional information and project descriptions here.

  • Goal: Coordinate interstate and intertribal management of ocean and coastal resources and implement priority actions identified by established regional ocean partnerships, including data sharing and integration.

  • Total Funding: $56 million over five years. Approximately $11 million per year. This includes approximately $1 million per year to be awarded competitively to federally-recognized tribes to encourage or enhance tribal engagement in existing regional ocean partnerships around the country.

  • Eligible Uses: Implementing priority actions identified by regional ocean partnerships (including capacity for member participation and engagement); federal and non-federal data sharing and integration activities in each of the regions.

  • Eligible Applicants: Established regional ocean partnerships, including the Northeast Regional Ocean Council, Mid Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean, Gulf of Mexico Alliance, and West Coast Ocean Alliance. Data sharing and integration activities will be supported by the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) regional association in regions that do not have an established regional partnership through a separate announcement.

    A separate funding competition is available for federally-recognized coastal tribes. Eligible applicants are U.S. federally-recognized Indian tribes that have current or ancestral interests in a region with an established regional ocean partnership and wish to pursue coastal and ocean activities that align with the regional priorities. Tribal-serving organizations may apply on behalf of one or more tribes, but must include a letter(s) from the tribe(s) confirming tribal leadership support for the application and describing how the tribe will be involved in the proposed work. Tribal funding through the competitive funding program is not guaranteed for all tribes that apply.

  • Matching Requirements: No non-federal match is required.

  • Information for Tribal Applicants: