Last week, NOAA released the results of a preliminary analysis of select Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) grant-funded awards. The analysis includes an evaluation of eight coastal resilience and conservation funding opportunities in the National Ocean Service and NOAA Fisheries. In 2022 and 2023 NOAA made 173 awards representing $717 million in federal support, mostly from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The awards are estimated to return enormous benefits to protect coastal communities and restore marine resources while advancing the Administration’s equity and environmental justice objectives.
Key highlights of the analysis show:
2.4x return on investment for every $1 spent, totalling $1.4 billion in economic output in communities surrounding projects
Almost 14 jobs created for every million dollars spent, totalling over 7,800 jobs
Restoration and protection of wetlands and coastal habitats that provide ecosystem benefits worth $725 million each year
59% of projects will engage Tribal or Indigenous communities
50% of the awards are committed to protecting, restoring, or enhancing culturally and economically significant ecosystems
Over 40% of funded projects provide important resilience benefits to vulnerable populations
The ocean offers powerful solutions to help us fight and adapt to climate change, but the ocean is also at risk. These projects are helping coastal environments and communities strengthen their resilience through storm and sea level rise protection, supporting commercial and recreational fisheries, and boosting coastal tourism.
Please use this toolkit to amplify this analysis and celebrate the many ways coastal resilience investments are benefiting communities across the US to help build support for the long-term, sustained investments we will need from Congress to truly address the impacts of the climate crisis on our coasts.