00A01431

Description:
The purpose of this agreement is to provide assistance to Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) to implement its project to support the Long Island Sound Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan to protect and restore Long Island Sound. These activities are intended to support the recipient's goals to: facilitate design and implementation of habitat restoration, riverine connectivity, and living shoreline projects; support coastal access improvement project identification and execution; support the integrated environmental characterization of Long Island Sound; explore green infrastructure projects; and promote equitable access, appreciation, and understanding of the Long Island Sound.

Activities:
The activities covered under this award will help more extensively implement the Long Island Sound Study Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan while specifically building the adaptive capacity of ecosystems and communities. Through facilitating the design and implementation of habitat restoration, riverine connectivity, and living shoreline projects, communities will have enhanced resilience to climate change and sea level rise. This award will protect land that has been identified or may emerge as a priority opportunity for coastal land conservation and expand and create more equitable access to coastal areas. Acquisition and access priorities will include projects that provide benefits to, or are in, environmental justice communities. This award catalyzes planning, outreach, and implementation of green infrastructure projects that address climate resiliency, flooding, stormwater runoff, and environmental justice communities. Additional activities include efforts to collect acoustic, geologic, ecologic, and physical oceanographic data of the Long Island Sound for managers and stakeholders to understand uncharted benthic environments.

Subrecipient:
No subawards are included in this assistance agreement.

Outcomes:
The anticipated deliverables will be progress and final reports; quality assurance project plans; and technical reports. Expected outcomes include: increased public knowledge about the Long Island Sound, completed living shorelines and habitat restoration, enhancement to coastal areas for recreation and fishing, completed green infrastructure with supplemental educational materials, and stronger scientific understanding of the watershed and Sound's physical environment. Direct beneficiaries of this program include the general population in the Connecticut and New York portion of the watershed and its surrounding areas, schools, universities, and other institutions of learning, environmental managers, and policymakers. Further, the project prioritizes the implementation of the Justice40 Initiative, a government-wide initiative with the goal of delivering 40 percent of the overall benefits of relevant federal investments to disadvantaged communities. Three of the four projects in this award have the potential to focus on distressed communities/environmental justice populations defined by CT State's definitions of distressed communities.

Connecticut Department Of Energy & Environmental Protection

6 - SAFEGUARD AND REVITALIZE COMMUNITIES 6.2 - REDUCE WASTE AND PREVENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION 1 - A CLEANER, HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENT 1.2 - PROVIDE FOR CLEAN AND SAFE WATER 3 - GREATER CERTAINTY, COMPLIANCE, AND EFFECTIVENESS 3.4 - STREAMLINE AND MODERNIZE 4 - ENSURE CLEAN AND HEALTHY AIR FOR ALL COMMUNITIES 4.1 - IMPROVE AIR QUALITY AND REDUCE LOCALIZED POLLUTION AND HEALTH IMPACTS 5 - ENSURE CLEAN AND SAFE WATER FOR ALL COMMUNITIES 5.2 - PROTECT AND RESTORE WATERBODIES AND WATERSHEDS

66.437 - Long Island Sound Program

EPA Region 1: Boston [EPA - RO]

Connecticut United States

State-Wide

EPA-CEP-01

Infrastructure $6,500,000 (35%) percent this Project Grant was funded by the 2021 Infrastructure Act.
Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 188% from $6,500,000 to $18,750,000.