National Estuary Program

The National Estuary Program (NEP) goal is to protect and restore the water quality and estuarine resources of estuaries and associated watersheds designated by the EPA Administrator as estuaries of national significance. The 28 estuaries of national significance, or NEPs, use an ecosystem-based management approach to help achieve their protection and restoration goals. For example, each NEP characterizes the priority problems in its estuary and surrounding watershed, develops a long-term plan known as a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) that identifies actions to address those problems, and identifies partners, including lead entities, who will implement those actions. Implementation of CCMPs can include the following actions: protecting and restoring habitat, including wetlands; supporting water quality protection and restoration, including Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan implementation; monitoring for, assessing the extent of toxics loadings and pathogen contamination, and taking steps to address excess loadings and contamination; implementing stormwater management, reducing non-point source pollution impacts, and promoting the adoption of green infrastructure approaches; preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species and/or managing their impacts; developing and implementing nutrient reduction strategies; conducting vulnerability assessments and developing and implementing adaptation strategies for recurring extreme weather, and using adaptation tools to promote coastal resilience. In addition to CCMP implementation, NEPs and other eligible recipients, address urgent and challenging issues that threaten the ecological and economic well-being of coastal areas. NEP projects funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA, Public Law 117-58), should seek to: accelerate and more extensively implement CCMPs, ensure that benefits reach communities, build the adaptive capacity of ecosystems and communities, and leverage additional resources, including from other IIJA programs. EPA's funding priority is to award assistance agreements that support the 28 National Estuary Programs' (NEPs) efforts to address their estuarine watersheds' priority problems identified in each of the 28 long-term CCMPs. EPA will provide focused support for NEPs to address priority problems identified by NEP management conferences and to document accomplishments and environmental results. NEP efforts address such problems as: (1) impacts on estuarine water quality and living resources of nutrients, toxics (chemical, heavy metals), pathogen contamination, and sediment attributable to excess loadings and non-point stormwater runoff; e.g., excess nutrient loadings can result in nutrient over-enrichment and hypoxic conditions in estuarine water bodies; (2) habitat loss/degradation; (3) risks to CCMP implementation due to recurring extreme weather impacts, and adaptation strategies to build regional, local, and tribal officials' capacity to address impacts from recurring extreme weather on NEP watersheds, and to promote community resilience. Activities that build capacity include conducting vulnerability assessments and developing and implementing adaptation strategies and programs; and 4) need for decision makers in estuarine communities to implement sustainable land use, green infrastructure, and low-impact development best practices. In FY 2023, EPA also funded through the NEP Coastal Watersheds Grant an intermediary organization to fund subawards that support projects that address urgent and challenging issues that threaten the ecological and economic well-being of coastal and estuarine areas.

Assistance agreements are issued only to those estuaries designated by the Administrator. The Administrator is authorized to make grants to State, interstate, and regional water pollution control agencies and entities; State coastal zone management agencies; interstate agencies; and other public and private nonprofit agencies, institutions, organizations, and individuals (Section 320(g)(l)). Profit making organizations are not eligible for grants.

For certain competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy.

Anyone/General Public.

Each application is reviewed by EPA Regional Offices to determine the adequacy of the application under grant regulations and National Estuary Program objectives, including technical merit and relevance of the project. Awards are issued by the EPA Regional Offices after approval by the appropriate Division Director. For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications submissions in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the competitive announcement. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements. For non-competitive awards made under this assistance listing, EPA will conduct an administrative evaluation to determine the adequacy of the application in relation to grant regulations and to technical and program evaluation to determine the merit and relevance of the project. The Agency will then advise the applicant if funding is being considered. A final work plan will then be negotiated with the applicant. Applications are also assessed consistent with the merit review regulations in 2 CFR 200.205.

Approximately 90 days after deadline for application submission.