The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) released a new report, A Resilient Future for Coastal Communities: Federal Policy Recommendations from Solutions in Practice, which highlights 30 specific policy recommendations to support community resilience to extreme weather, erosion, flooding, sea level rise, and other hazards exacerbated by climate change. Coastal communities are at the frontlines of climate change, and 40 percent of Americans—130 million people—live along our ocean and Great Lakes shorelines.

The report is designed as a practical resource for Congress, federal agencies, and the public and represents a distillation of the findings, recommendations, and case studies identified during EESI’s Congressional briefing series on Regional Coastal Resilience. Between June 2019 and June 2020, EESI organized 16 briefings featuring 42 coastal resilience experts, practitioners, and community leaders from Alaska, the Caribbean, the Great Lakes, the Gulf Coast, Hawaii, the Northeast, the Southeast, and the West Coast.

Learn more and read the report here.

The Texas General Land Office (GLO) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will be hosting a second round of virtual public meetings on the Coastal Texas Protection & Restoration Feasibility Study, or the Coastal Texas Study, to update the community regarding study changes and to hear community feedback on the Draft Proposal. The Coastal Texas Study is a comprehensive study to examine the feasibility of construction projects for coastal storm risk management and ecosystem restoration along the Texas coast. Throughout the study process, public feedback is critical to understanding the needs and opportunities along the Texas coast. The intent of the public comment period is to receive ideas and concerns from the citizens of Texas. Constituent feedback is a vital part of this process. The revised Coastal Texas Study Draft Proposal is now available and is open for a 45-day public review and comment period ending on December 14, 2020. View and download the report here.

The Reef Resilience Network has released the Manager’s Guide to Coral Reef Restoration Planning and Design to support the needs of reef managers seeking to begin restoration or assess their current restoration program. Based on global best practices—and tested with managers from Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands—the Guide was developed for reef managers and practitioners, and anyone who plans, implements, and monitors restoration activities. Development of this Guide was made possible through financial support from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program and NOAA Restoration Center, the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development, and The Nature Conservancy’s Reef Resilience Network. Learn more and read the guide here.

NOAA Sea Grant & Ocean Acidification Program Funding Opportunity: Shellfish Aquaculture Partnerships

The National Sea Grant Office and the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program are funding a joint competition to fund proposals that seek to establish, continue, and/or expand collaborations between researchers and the shellfish aquaculture industry. Specifically, applications to this competition should utilize new or existing research/industry partnerships to study how ocean and coastal acidification in combination with other stressors impacts shellfish aquaculture. Applications must include at least one researcher and one shellfish grower acting as co-Principal Investigators, and the proposed work must utilize a co-production of knowledge framework. Total funding for this competition includes up to $2,000,000 in federal funds to support 2-6 projects. Each project will be funded at the approximate level of $100,000 - $300,000 per year for 1-3 years. Applications are due March 16, 2021. Learn more here.

The application period for FEMA’s fiscal year 2020 Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grants under the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and new Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) programs is now open. Eligible applicants must apply for funding through the FEMA Grants Outcomes (GO) system. All applications must be submitted no later than 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on January 29, 2021. For FY20, a total of $660 million in funding is available for FMA and BRIC. Visit the FMA and BRIC web pages to find helpful resources.

Are you interested in a scholarship and paid summer internship with NOAA? Consider applying for the Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship or the Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI) Undergraduate Scholarship. Applications are open from September 1, 2020, through February 1, 2021. Learn more here.

The NOAA RESTORE Science Program is making approximately $2.5 million available for this competition to fund approximately 20 planning projects that will run for one year each. This competition will provide natural resource managers, researchers, and other stakeholders with funding to plan a research project that informs a specific management decision impacting natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico. A second competition for funding to execute and apply actionable science will follow this competition. These two competitions will be independent of one another. The deadline for applications is Dec. 15, 2020. See the full announcement here.