Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Approximately $575 million is available through the federal Inflation Reduction Act for projects that would increase the resilience of coastal communities to extreme weather, sea level rise and drought.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge, offered by the U.S. Department of Commerce, is available to coastal states, territories, tribes, counties, cities, or other units of government, as well as nonprofit organizations or associations.
Priorities for this opportunity include building risk reduction, regional coordination and collaboration, equity and inclusion, and enduring capacity.
The challenge involves two funding tracks. Track One, Regional Collaborative Building and Strategy Development, will support the planning of adaptation strategies in coastal areas, with awards from $500,000 to $2 million. Track Two, Implementation of Resilience and Adaptation Actions, will lean on previous planning efforts to implement these strategies to meet the needs of coastal communities and regions. Most awards for Track Two will fall within $25 million and $50 million.
Applicants must propose strategies and actions that build the resilience of multiple communities within a coastal region, including communities that have been underserved or underrepresented.
The NOAA received $3.3 billion from the IRA to help prepare communities and improve research and responses to weather and climate events. Additional opportunities available through the NOAA, such as the Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerators and Climate Ready Workforce, can be found on the Inflation Reduction Act website.
The deadline is Aug. 21 to submit a letter of intent for the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge. Full applications are due on Feb. 13, 2024.
Forty-five awards are expected to be made available, with no matching requirement.
Questions can be directed to resiliencechallenge@noaa.gov. More information is available on the NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge webpage and the accompanying Grants.gov webpage.