The Georgia Coastal Management Program (GCMP) used a CZMA §309 strategy to work with Chatham, Brantley, and Glynn Counties to develop Disaster Recovery and Redevelopment Plans (DRRP) specific to their own jurisdictions. The DRRP process, using planning guidance published by GCMP that includes cost estimates, funding sources, and key partners, assists communities to identify vulnerabilities, develop action items to manage and reduce risks, and identify ordinance changes that can be implemented post-disaster to encourage rebuilding while reducing risk. GCMP is now using a NOAA Coastal Resiliency Grant to work with the remaining coastal counties to create DRRPs. In addition, GCMP is collaborating with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency to develop a statewide DRRP, and convening a small-business/private sector DRRP in partnership with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

NOAA Fisheries announces the 2019 Saltonstall-Kennedy (SK) Grant competition is open for applications.  

NOAA Fisheries announces the the FY19 Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) Federal Funding Opportunity and inviting applicants to submit pre-proposals by July 23, 2018. The 2019 priority focus areas were modified to continue to add emphasis on funding science initiatives that track closely with industry priorities. This year, the priority focus areas are:

Read more about the  SK Grant Program and How to Apply . 

NOTE: All interested applicants must submit a Pre-Proposal to the grant opportunity, NOAA-NMFS-FHQ-2019-2005591, posted at  www.Grants.gov . Pre-proposals are due via Grants.gov by 11:59 pm, Eastern Time, July 23, 2018. 

FEMA Seeks Comments on Individual Assistance Policy and Program Guide

FEMA posted the draft Individual Assistance Program and Policy Guide (IAPPG) for public comment. The IAPPG will provide a single comprehensive reference document for all FEMA Individual Assistance (IA) programs. The comment period will close on June 7, 2018. FEMA will then adjudicate comments and finalize the document. Once finalized, the IAPPG will replace the Individuals and Households Program Unified Guidance (IHPUG) from September 2016, and all stand-alone IA policies. 

 

Please visit www.fema.gov/individual-assistance-program-and-policy-guide to review and provide comments on the draft IAPPG.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Announces Funding Opportunity for Fiscal Year 2018 Preparedness Grants

On May 21, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen announced the release of Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Notices of Funding Opportunity for eight U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) preparedness grant programs totaling more than $1.6 billion. The grant programs provide funding to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as transportation authorities, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector, to improve the nation’s readiness in preventing, protecting against, responding to, recovering from and mitigating terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies. The grants reflect the Department’s focus on funding for programs that address our nation’s immediate security needs and ensure public safety in our communities.

All preparedness Notices of Funding Opportunities can be found at www.grants.gov . Final submissions must be made through the Non-Disaster (ND) Grants system located at https://portal.fema.gov . Further information on DHS’s preparedness grant programs is available at www.dhs.gov and www.fema.gov/grants . 

International Code Council: Building to Code Saves Lives and Protects Communities

Week three of National Building Safety Month focuses on “Protecting Communities from Disasters.” Although we have no control over the occurrence of natural hazards, mitigation efforts-such as building code adoption and code enforcement-are some of the strongest strategies jurisdictions can take to protect a community. Mitigation increases building occupant health and safety during a disaster, protects the local tax base, ensures continuity of essential services, and supports faster recovery from disasters.

Building a culture of preparedness is a key part of the FEMA 2018-2022 Strategic Plan. Disaster resilience starts with building codes, because they enhance public safety and property protection. FEMA works directly with state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, and non-governmental partners, and advocates for the adoption and enforcement of modern building and property codes. Read more.

Portal on Thin Layer Sediment Placement

The site contains a growing body of searchable resources pertaining to all stages of dredged-material based beneficial use projects, including conceptualization, design, implementation and long term management. Read more.

The first list of the USACE Supplementation Appropriations for Disasters 2018 is now online.

The funding estimates are broken out between – Flood Control and Coastal Emergency ($423,791,425), and Operations and Maintenance ($385,414,000). The estimates are aggregated for all projects and does not provide individual breakouts by state or territory.

The USACE FY18 Work Plan is in development and rumored to be forthcoming shortly. When available the Work Plan will be posted here under Work Plan Fiscal Year 2018.

A Growing Blue Economy in North America

Over the last four years 20 incubators, accelerators and clusters focused on the Blue Economy and blue technology have formed in North America, bringing the current total to 26. 

You may be asking yourself: “what the hell is the Blue Economy?” It’s a good question, and if you ask 10 different people you’re bound to get 10 different responses. Using the World Bank’s definition, “the Blue Economy is sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health.” It includes many different activities, including: renewable energy, fisheries, maritime transport, tourism and defense, just to name a few. The World Bank estimates that the Blue Economy contributes roughly $1.5 trillion to the global economy each year; very few other natural resources can claim as large an impact. Read more.

Federal report: High-tide flooding could happen ‘every other day’ by late this century

High-tide flooding, which can wash water over roads and inundate homes and businesses, is an event that happens once in a great while in coastal areas. But its frequency has rapidly increased in recent years because of sea-level rise. Not just during storms but increasingly on sunny days, too.

Years ago, the late Margaret Davidson, a coastal programs director at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, warned it wouldn’t be long until such flooding became routine. “Today’s flood will become tomorrow’s high tide,” she said.

A new NOAA report has published startling new projections that affirm Davidson’s warning. Read more.

How to redesign the Bay Area to fight future climate disasters

Billions of dollars’ worth of property in the Bay Area is at risk from rising sea levels, including infrastructure like San Francisco’s international airport. As some parts of the city sink, one recent study found that even more land is at risk than previously thought. The low-lying communities that are most at risk as the water rises also tend to have other challenges, including poverty, asthma, and other health issues from pollution, and an increased risk of earthquake damage, especially in areas that were built on rubble on former marshes. The designers looked at resilience holistically–not just how infrastructure might reduce flooding, but how communities could become stronger to bounce back when floods inevitably happen. They also looked at solutions beyond simple seawalls, which can’t prevent flooding if part of the problem is coming from stormwater and high groundwater.

These nine proposals offer a vision of how San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and the surrounding communities can rethink their landscape to prepare for rising sea levels and other dangers of our changing climate. The Project Website has more detail on each of the proposals.

Read more.

Nelson Pushes for Vilano Beach Renourishment Project

Vilano Beach is a step closer to being renourished after a U.S. Senate panel approved a bill to authorize the work, the Florida Senator Bill Nelson’s office said. 

Florida’s Democratic senator yesterday visited St. Johns County to discuss the Vilano Beach project and what’s being done to get the county’s beaches ready for the upcoming hurricane season, which begins this Friday. Read more.

US’ most valuable landing port also wants to cash in on shellfish aquaculture

New Bedford, Massachusetts, is already home to the US’ most value commercial fishing port. Now it also wants to become a major hub for shellfish aquaculture, and it has plenty of open water with which to work.

The city has received 15 responses to a request for information it posted in January, asking producers of oysters, clams, mussels, bay scallops and kelp among other harvestable sea products if they have any interest in establishing farming operations in almost 8,400 acres of water extending out from the port, Ed Anthes-Washburn, the port director, told Undercurrent News. Read more.

R.I. selects Deepwater Wind to build 400-megawatt offshore wind farm

The state has selected Deepwater Wind, the Providence company that built the nation’s first offshore wind farm, to develop a 400-megawatt proposal in federal waters far off the coast that would be more than 10 times the size of the Block Island demonstration project.

Governor Gina Raimondo announced the surprise decision Wednesday afternoon.

“Rhode Island made history when we built the first offshore wind farm in the United States,” she said in a statement. “Today, we are doing it again.” Read more.

EPA Awards Over $285,000 to Help Restore Louisiana Coastal Habitat

(May 23, 2018) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Gulf of Mexico Program awarded $285,744 in grants to the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana to help restore the swamp forest habitat near the City of New Orleans.

“The Gulf of Mexico is recognized worldwide as waterbody with significant economic and ecological value—and coastal Louisiana is an integral part of the Gulf ecosystem,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “This grant will help protect and restore the habitat along the Louisiana coast.”  Read more.

WRDA to Include New Authorization for the Great Lakes

U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand have announced that following their push, the Senate Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) includes a new authorization for the Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study. Read more.

Shoreline Erosion: Changes threaten Lake Erie coast

Year after year, strong storms, waves and other environmental forces alter the Lake Erie shoreline.

When houses first began to build in the trees between Cleveland Avenue in Huron and the lake, real estate photos touted Grand Forest Beach, a residential development with a “lake view from every lot.”

Early 1900s images of this area show cottages being constructed among families playing on a sandy beach.

But these new homeowners didn’t know the lake would one day turn on them and threaten their homes and safety. Read more.

Add Your Name In Support of National Ocean Sciences Board

Ocean education needs greater attention in the U.S. The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) is a long-standing program providing high school students with high quality educational experiences and building a community—already tens of thousands strong—of STEM trained, ocean literate, and thoughtful future leaders in our nation’s workforce. The letter linked below urges the federal government to renew its support for ocean education and, in particular, the NOSB. Without sustained federal funding, the NOSB will likely soon come to an end. Please help us demonstrate the ocean science and education community’s support for this program and the need for federal action by signing on to the letter. Sign on here!

Reducing Coastal Risk with Natural Defenses: The Latest Ecology, Engineering, and Economics of Natural Infrastructure Webinar

Wetlands and reefs serve as barriers, buffers, and breakwaters from rising seas, swell, and storm surge. Until recently, it was not possible to put a value on the flood damages – to people and property – that these coastal habitats avert. This is changing rapidly, however, and recent studies are showing surprising results. Salt marshes can reduce annual flood damages by at least 15 percent. Mangroves can reduce annual flood damages to people and property by 25 percent across the entire nation of the Philippines – a nation that sees more super storms and typhoons than almost anywhere else. And coral reefs reduce up to 97 percent of wave energy that would otherwise hit coastlines, averting hundreds of millions of dollars in flood in flood damages every year. The protection from coastal habitats is cost-effective as well, particularly when compared to built or gray infrastructure such as seawalls or dikes. A new study uses insurance industry-based models to show that every 1 (US) dollar spent on restoring marshes and oyster reefs on the American Gulf Coast reduces storm damages by 7 (US) dollars. This talk will summarize high-level findings from the latest research on the ecology, engineering, and economics of natural infrastructure. Webinar Link

Presented by Mike Beck of TNC and UCSC.

Webinar hosted by the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe).

Click here to download a copy of this webinar from our Vimeo page

Click here to watch this video on YouTube

Apply Now to the New Strengthening Coastal Counties Resilience Challenge

The National Association of Counties, the Association of State Floodplain Managers and the Coastal States Organization have launched the Strengthening Coastal Counties Resilience Challenge - a technical assistance pilot program to help counties identify ways to increase resilience to extreme weather and climate-related hazards across the Gulf of Mexico region. The Challenge is open to teams from Gulf coastal counties with populations of fewer than 250,000. Applications are due Friday, June 15, 2018. Learn more and apply here: www.naco.org/coastalcounties.

June 11- 14, 2018

June 17 - 21, 2018

July 23 - 26, 2018

August 6 - 9, 2018

September 17 -19, 2018

October 15 - 19, 2018

October 30 - Nov 2 , 2018

December 8 - 13, 2018

NOAA's  National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science  is recruiting for 5 Branch Chiefs as ZP-5 (equivalent to a GS-15) Environmental Scientists

Restore America's Estuaries - External Affairs Manager

Program Director - Narragansett Bay Estuary Program (NBEP)

Sea Grant Washington: Director

Program Analyst III; CollabraLink (NOAA OAR, LCI and Research Council) 

Monmouth University - Endowed Chair of Marine and Environmental Law and Policy

Oceana: Marine Scientist 

World Resource Institute: Program Coordinator



Job Boards

The Nature Conservancy

International Association for Great Lakes Research

EPA Office of Water - Postgraduate Internship