The national oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA) is providing $875,000 in federal funding to the state of maine through the inflation reduction act

This funding will build the ability of the states federally-approved coastal management program within the department of marine resources to implement projects, initiatives, and programs that increase the climate resilience of coastal communities within coastal counties. Specifically, maine coastal program (MCP) will use these funds to continue to support the advancement of nature base infrastructure (NBI) in various ways. With the initial OCM BIL noncompetitive award (#NA23NOS4730061), MCP established a temporary habitat restoration position and a local grants program for restoration planning and design, creating a pipeline of NBI projects for state funding. However, the workload is beyond the capacity of that previously funded position. This new award funding will provide MCP with additional contracted capacity to assist the MCP habitat restoration coordinator and to offer an additional round of local planning and design grants for NBI.