Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Division of Coastal Resources Management, a U.S. territorial government entity headquartered in Saipan, CNMI, operates as a federal grant recipient providing coastal resource management, environmental planning, and infrastructure development services to the federal government. The Division does not hold federal contracts or contract vehicles; its entire footprint of 562 awards spanning the past two decades consists of grant funding received as prime recipient from 24 distinct federal agencies.

The Division's capability portfolio centers on coastal zone management, coral reef conservation, habitat restoration, marine monitoring, and territorial infrastructure development. Representative grant work includes a $882,489 Cooperative Agreement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, CFDA 11.473, Office for Coastal Management) running through December 2027 to build capacity for habitat restoration and land acquisition planning under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, supporting one full-time staff position for pre-acquisition planning and beach nourishment pilot project design. The Division also received $1.192 million in NOAA National Coastal Zone Management Program funding (FY2024, extending through March 2027) to administer the territorially approved coastal management program, covering coastal development permitting, wetland management, and the annual DCRM summer internship program, including a project to update the 1991 Saipan Comprehensive Wetlands Management Plan. A $286,837 project grant from the Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs (CFDA 15.875, Economic, Social, and Political Development of the Territories, August 2024 through September 2028) supports five coral reef conservation initiatives: U.S. Coral Reef Task Force coordination, eco-tour operator certification programs, public service announcement production, marine monitoring for reef restoration, and climate-stressor response capabilities.

The Division's customer concentration is highly skewed toward territorial transportation and insular affairs funding. The Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration leads by volume with 299 awards, though most carry minimal individual potential value and primarily reflect historical infrastructure project administration dating to 2000. The Department of the Interior Insular Affairs accounts for 157 awards, anchoring the agency's grant relationship. NOAA provides the largest recent-dollar concentration, with 23 awards totaling $2,000 in combined potential value listed in the portfolio. This concentration reflects the Division's primary federal role: implementing Bipartisan Infrastructure Law coastal resilience capacity-building, administering the federally approved coastal management program, and executing discrete coral reef and marine conservation projects on behalf of federal grantor agencies.

Activity has declined sharply in recent years—from ten awards in 2022 to one award in 2025 and one in the past three months of 2026—reflecting a shift from historical highway infrastructure project administration to ongoing coastal management and conservation grant funding cycles. The Division operates under a single Basic Ordering Agreement (HHSD200201250857I) with eight task orders carrying $302,000 in combined potential value. Three awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating potential recompete exposure. Obligated dollars significantly exceed listed potential values at $215.3 million against $1.4 million in combined potential value, indicating the portfolio contains many legacy awards with completed or largely-executed scopes. The Division functions exclusively as prime recipient and does not subcontract; all work is performed directly by territorial staff and agencies.