NOAA today announced the availability of $9.6 million for Regional Ocean Partnerships in the Gulf of Mexico, West Coast, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast as well as 5 Integrated Ocean Observing System Regional Associations, in order to support cross-jurisdictional priorities and data sharing.
Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, NOAA said that the funding will allow the agency to increase the Regional Ocean Partnerships’ ability to address region-specific priorities like offshore wind planning, ocean condition monitoring to coordinate management regionally, advancing shared tribal priorities, and sharing ocean and coastal data. In doing so, NOAA said the funding would advance the administration’s goal of “environmental justice for all.”
Applications for Regional Ocean Partnerships are due by Friday, Apr. 12, with an additional funding opportunity focused on tribal engagement in Regional Ocean Partnerships to be announced later this year. Applications for the Regional Associations will be due this summer.
Commerce Sec. Gina Raimondo said that the funding will “help NOAA increase access to data and products that support regionally driven coastal, ocean and Great Lakes management priorities and help address the climate crisis,” calling access to coastal and ocean data “a pivotal first step for communities to be able to prepare for and tackle local climate change, such as sea level rise and coastal flooding.”
