COASTAL RESILIENCE NETWORKS

Grant: Coastal Resilience Networks
Agency: U.S. Department of Commerce
Division: National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Deadline: Letters of intent must be submitted by August 2, 2010. Full proposals are due September 15, 2010. Applicants may not submit full proposals unless they submitted a letter of intent.

Description: As demonstrated by the devastating impacts of recent tsunamis, floods and hurricanes, coastal communities across the nation need improved products and services to help them manage and adapt to increasing coastal risk. The objective of this program is to support coastal communities in addressing priorities related to managing and adapting to natural hazard and climate risks in a comprehensive way. The program is specifically focused on supporting local or community scale activities that connect, integrate and/or leverage existing federal, state and/or local programs within a region. Activities solicited under this competition are intended to directly contribute to local efforts while contributing to increased regional capacity for training, assessment and planning.

The need for collaborative regional approaches for building resilient coastal communities is undeniable. Such approaches provide tremendous value to local communities by improving coordination across agencies, disciplines, jurisdictions and sectors. Regional entities support broad professional networks that provide a forum and mechanism for connecting, integrating and leveraging programs and their human and financial resources at a regional scale. Technical networks and systems support regional approaches by integrating data and services, and promoting data access and interoperability. Activities solicited under this competition are intended to leverage existing professional and technical networks to move beyond fragmented approaches to addressing coastal risk and toward more integrated regional approaches.

Projects funded through this program will directly support the following objectives:

• An informed society anticipating and responding to a changing climate and its impacts.
• A society prepared for and able to respond to sudden and prolonged high impact events.
• Pursuance of risk-wise strategies based on sound risk and vulnerability assessment methods and risk behavior and communication principles.
• Protection of ecosystem services through conservation strategies to improve climate adaptation and hazard resilience.

Proposals must demonstrate how they promote opportunities for increased public engagement in managing and adapting to coastal risks in consideration of local traditional and cultural values and perceptions of risk.

Proposals must also provide beneficial public outcomes for coastal communities to address existing and potential future risks to coastal infrastructure, local economies, vulnerable populations and/or the natural environment.

Proposals should seek to develop capacity in preparedness, recovery, risk and vulnerability, adaptation and underserved or under-represented populations.

Fit for public broadcasting: This grant opportunity is only available to public broadcasting stations in the U.S. Flag Pacific Islands (Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), the Gulf Coast (Alabama, Gulf Coast of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas) and the West Coast (California, Oregon and Washington). Public broadcasting stations are eligible to apply as a lead applicant, but they may be better suited as partners. NOAA has emphasized that successful applications must demonstrate strong partnerships and a firm understanding of the community that will be served. Public broadcasting stations are important fixtures in their communities, and they would be an asset to projects that will improve community readiness for coastal hazards. Communication and outreach is one of the criteria on by which proposals will be evaluated, and NOAA requires that the communities served by this funding understand and commit to this program. Public broadcasting stations can play a significant role in emergency preparedness communication. Letters of intent are required and due soon, so stations should not delay in approaching community partners, specifically port authorities, local governments and community service organizations, to gauge interest.

Eligibility: Eligible funding applicants are regional authorities, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, Indian Tribal governments, and state, territorial and county/local governments from the U.S. Flag Pacific Islands (Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), Gulf Coast (Alabama, Gulf Coast of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas) and West Coast (California, Oregon and Washington). The following types of organizations are encouraged to either submit proposals or participate in proposal development and provide in-kind services: land use authorities, port authorities, housing authorities, public works authorities, transportation authorities, critical facility authorities, emergency management authorities, community service organizations, stewardship organizations and conservation organizations.

Anticipated funding: Total anticipated funding for all awards is approximately $1,000,000. Awards will range from $100,000 to $350,000 per year. Multi-year proposals will be considered but limited to three years. There will be between three and six awards made. The funding instrument for these awards may be grants or cooperative agreements.

No cost sharing or matching is required under this program.

Funding will be available for proposals to include a start date of October 1, 2011, or the first day of any proceeding month after that, but no later than January 1, 2012.

How to apply: Applicants must submit a letter of intent before they are eligible to submit a full proposal. The letter of intent process is intended to provide potential funding applicants with information regarding the relevance of their project idea to the program objectives in advance of preparing a full proposal. The letter of intent should provide a concise description of the proposed work and its relevance to program objectives. It should include a statement of the purpose, a budget summary, a description of intended benefits to a local community and a description of the partnerships to be employed in the development and completion of the proposed work. Letters of intent will be evaluated for their importance, relevance, applicability, and their technical and scientific merit.

Applications must be obtained and submitted electronically at Grants.gov.

Resources:
Program notice
NOAA Coastal Services Center website