The national oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA) is providing ongoing funding through the national coastal zone management program to the state of new jersey to help administer the states…

The national oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA) is providing ongoing funding through the national coastal zone management program to the state of new jersey to help administer the states federally approved coastal management program. The national coastal zone management program, under the coastal zone management act, is an important voluntary federal-state partnership that protects, restores, and responsibly develops our nations coastal communities and resources by balancing economic development, coastal uses, and natural resource protection. Noaas investment of over $3,064,000 is leveraging over $2,622,000 in state funds. These funds will support jobs and provide continued assistance to the new jersey coastal management program to address many important coastal issues in the state including coastal hazards and climate resilience planning, regional ocean planning, sea-level change, public access, wetland migration, and aquaculture. The funding also supports ongoing coastal permitting and monitoring, municipal public access planning, policy refinement, and education and outreach. The program is intended to improve the resilience of coastal communities and ecosystems by providing data to prioritize restoration efforts and support informed management decisions. The award is also funding a number of local projects or initiatives including: continue implementation of the regional resilience coordinator program to assist coastal communities to increase community resilience to coastal hazards in a coordinated manner that is consistent with the policies, regulations, and guidance of the njcmp. Continue funding the art installations grant program that will bring public awareness to the issues of climate change impacts throughout the coastal zone. Utilize mycoast to collect crowd-sourced information to chronicle the changing coast by documenting tides and storm damage. Study and map submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) habitat. Continue funding the tidal wetland monitoring grant program, which provides annual funding to conduct wetland monitoring to track conditions and trends of tidal wetlands in new jersey.