NERRS Habitat Protection and Restoration Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Competition

The National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) consists of estuarine areas of the United States and its territories designated and managed for research and educational purposes (Reserves). Each Reserve within the NERRS is chosen to represent a different biogeographic region and to include a variety of ecosystem types in accordance with the classification scheme of the national program as specified in 15 CFR 921. By funding designated Reserve agencies and universities to conduct land acquisition and habitat restoration projects that support the NERRS mission, NOAA will strengthen protection of key land and water areas, improve climate resilience, enhance long-term protection of Reserve areas for research and education, and support the habitat protection goals and priorities of the National Coastal Zone Management Act. Funding under this opportunity will enable Reserves to protect and restore ecologically significant habitats, including conserving lands that play a critical role in helping coastal communities become more resilient to storms, flooding, inundation, erosion, tsunamis, sea level rise and lake level changes and other natural hazards affecting the U.S. coastlines.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) supports NOAA's efforts reduce the impacts of climate change. A key pillar is resilience to climate change and its impacts, throughout our communities and ecosystems. Specifically, this NOFO seeks projects that enhance coastal resilience. Coastal areas support the nation's largest and often fastest-growing population centers as well as key natural assets. Strengthening coastal resilience means preparing and adapting coastal communities to mitigate the impacts of and more quickly recover after extreme events such as hurricanes, coastal storms, flooding, and sea level rise. Habitat restoration and natural and nature-based infrastructure and solutions are critical to doing so by protecting lives and property; sustaining commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing; recovering threatened and endangered species; and maintaining and fostering vibrant coastal economies and lifestyles. This NOFO along with the NOFOs for National Coastal Resilience Fund; Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants; Coastal Habitat and Resilience Grants for Underserved Communities; and Coastal Zone Management Habitat Protection and Restoration grants aims to fund projects that support the overarching goal of enhancing coastal resilience. This NOFO focuses on the resilience of the designated National Estuarine Research Reserves.

This announcement solicits applications from Federally-designated National Estuarine Research Reserves for projects relating to (i) coastal habitat restoration; (ii) coastal habitat restoration planning, engineering, and design projects, and (iii) coastal land conservation that are expected to be completed within 3 years of the start date of the award, with the potential of up to 5 years.

This competition has a mandatory pre-proposal/letter of intent. Only applicants whose pre-proposals strongly align with program objectives and goals, as determined by NOAA through the review process described in Section V.A. will be invited to submit full applications. Pre-proposals must be submitted by the deadline stated in Section IV.D. For details regarding the suggested content of pre-proposals please see Section IV.B.k