Project Grant 00A00865

This $790,000 Project Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1 supports implementation of the Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Partnership (MBP) Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan under the National Estuary Program. Over a two-year period from July 2021 through June 2023, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs will deliver a variety of products and services to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the estuary and support its sustainable human uses. Key anticipated deliverables include setting restoration targets to guide actions in the five MassBays regions, disseminating and encouraging use of an aquatic resource application, launching an updated Conservation and Management Plan with revised monitoring and communication strategies, developing a State of the Bays report for public and scientific audiences, funding research through competitive grants to fill priority data gaps, and incorporating environmental justice considerations into management. Direct beneficiaries include residents and communities along the Massachusetts shoreline as well as the general public in the watershed. Subawards will support priority restoration actions and address data needs identified in the Conservation and Management Plan.