The Biden-Harris Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have announced $575 million in funding to enhance climate resilience in the Great Lakes, coastal states, and territories of the United States. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo stated that the funds would support 19 projects under NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge, which is part of the Investing in America agenda.
NOAA’s press release noted that this program is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and is a competitive initiative under NOAA’s Climate-Ready Coasts and Communities Initiative. Raimondo emphasized the historic nature of this investment, calling it the largest in the Commerce Department’s history and a key component of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious climate agenda. The funding aims to assist underserved communities across the country in developing and implementing strategies to protect against flooding, storm surges, and extreme weather events.
Announced in 2023, this program received nearly 870 letters of intent requesting over $16 billion in funding. The Climate Resilience Regional Challenge also supports President Joe Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments reach disadvantaged communities burdened by pollution and underinvestment.
National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi highlighted that coastal communities are on the front lines of the climate crisis, facing challenges such as sea level rise and storm surges. The funding announcement aligns with the administration’s new Climate Resilience Game Changers Assessment, which seeks to collaborate with state, local, and tribal governments to build capacity, upgrade infrastructure, and protect vulnerable communities from climate impacts.
The funding program includes two tracks: awards for planning and capacity building, and implementation awards for transformational projects. The planning and capacity building awards will focus on regions and communities advancing or initiating collaborative efforts to enhance coastal resilience. These awards account for 11 of the 19 projects recommended for funding, with an average award amount of $1.8 million.
John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President on International Climate Policy, noted that coastal communities are already experiencing the effects of extreme weather events fueled by the climate crisis. These grants aim to enable them to design locally-led projects for a resilient future. The projects are intended to help communities build regional partnerships, engage with historically marginalized groups, assess climate change risks, plan adaptation actions, and build workforce capacity.
The implementation awards include eight transformational projects, with funding ranging from $56 million to $75 million over five years, totaling approximately $555 million.
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