The national oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA) is providing $3,476,716 in federal funding to the coastal states stewardship foundation, serving as fiscal sponsor for the northeast regional…

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded $3.476 million to the Coastal States Stewardship Foundation on October 1, 2025, through the Office for Coastal Management (CFDA 11.473) to serve as fiscal sponsor for the Northeast Regional Ocean Council Regional Ocean Partnership under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The Northeast Regional Ocean Council will use the funds to advance priorities across three committees. The Coastal Hazards Resilience Committee will improve observations and monitoring of water levels to mitigate flooding and storm surge impacts, expand implementation of living, natural, and green infrastructure along the shoreline, and coordinate regional approaches through regular exchange of ideas. The Ocean and Coastal Ecosystem Health Committee will map and model aspects of the New England environment important for decision-making, including improving understanding of coastal and submerged vegetation, identifying areas where ocean acidification could create risk to economically important species, and enhancing seafloor mapping to better understand depth, sediment, subsurface geology, minerals, and habitat. The Ocean Planning Committee will support and improve regional ocean management and business decisions by focusing on interjurisdictional coordination and emerging issues, and providing expert-informed regional maps and data products accessible via the Northeast Ocean Data Portal.

The award obligates $4.201 million total and runs through November 30, 2027, with place of performance in Washington, DC. The program supports interstate and intertribal management of ocean and coastal resources and enhances sharing and integration of federal and non-federal data.

The national oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA) is providing $3,476,716 in federal funding to the coastal states stewardship foundation, serving as fiscal sponsor for the northeast regional ocean council (nroc) regional ocean partnership through the bipartisan infrastructure law. The bipartisan infrastructure law provides funding for established regional ocean partnerships (rops) to coordinate the interstate and intertribal management of ocean and coastal resources and to implement their priority actions, including to enhance associated sharing and integration of federal and non-federal data. Specifically the northeast regional ocean council will use these funds to advance the priorities of their three committees: the coastal hazards resilience committee, the ocean and coastal ecosystem health committee, and the ocean planning committee, to achieve the following outcomes. The coastal hazards resilience committee will help mitigate the impacts of flooding and storm surge by improving observations and monitoring water levels; expanding the implementation of living, natural and green infrastructure along the shoreline; and coordinating regional approaches through a regular exchange of ideas. The ocean and coastal ecosystem health committee will map and model aspects of the new england environment that are not well understood, but important for decision-making, including improving understanding of coastal and submerged vegetation, identifying areas where ocean acidification could create risk to economically important species, and enhancing seafloor mapping to better understand depth, sediment, subsurface geology, minerals, and habitat. The ocean planning committee will support and improve regional ocean management and business decisions by focusing on interjurisdictional coordination and the understanding of emerging issues, and providing expert-informed regional maps and data products that are publicly accessible via the northeast ocean data portal and extensively used for business and government decisions.