NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project Grants under the U.S. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in Areas of Concern | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project Grants opportunity, funded through the U.S. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), supports on-the-ground coastal habitat restoration projects in U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). The program is run by the Department of Commerce through NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and its central aim is to provide both financial and technical assistance to projects that are ready to proceed and that clearly advance NOAA's habitat restoration mission while aligning with the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy. In practical terms, the opportunity is geared toward projects that are far enough along in planning to move into engineering and design work and/or implementation without major delays, and that can show measurable ecological and community outcomes tied to AOC recovery.

Projects are expected to directly support AOC delisting progress by addressing fish and wildlife-related Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs). Applicants need to explain how their work will contribute to removing these impairments, which are the specific conditions keeping an AOC from being delisted (for example, degraded fish and wildlife habitat or other impairments affecting living resources). Beyond meeting BUI-related goals, NOAA emphasizes significant ecological gains, especially outcomes likely to remain effective under future climate conditions in the Great Lakes region. That means proposals should consider resilience to changing water levels, temperature shifts, altered precipitation patterns, and other stressors, and should make the case that restored habitats will continue to function well over time rather than providing short-lived improvements.

A strong emphasis is placed on "shovel-ready" status. NOAA is looking for proposals that are not purely conceptual and that have a clear path to execution, including defined scopes of work, realistic timelines, and the necessary groundwork (such as site access, permissions, and partners) to begin promptly. The opportunity also requires applicants to document tangible community benefits. This can include improved recreational access, enhanced park use, better public enjoyment of waterfronts, or other concrete benefits to nearby communities that come from restoring habitats and associated natural areas. In addition, NOAA expects collaborative implementation, meaning projects should demonstrate real partnerships among a mix of stakeholders such as public agencies, nonprofit organizations, community and watershed groups, industry and local businesses, youth conservation corps, students, landowners, academic institutions, and local, state, tribal, and federal entities.

This funding opportunity was offered as a discretionary program using a cooperative agreement mechanism, which typically indicates that NOAA may remain substantially involved during the project period in areas such as technical guidance, coordination, and oversight. The funding activity categories associated with the opportunity span environment, science and technology, research and development, education, and community development, reflecting that habitat restoration in AOCs often combines ecological engineering, field implementation, monitoring, and community-facing outcomes.

Financially, NOAA anticipated making about 11 awards from an estimated total of $5,000,000. Individual awards were expected to range from $50,000 (award floor) up to $4,000,000 (award ceiling). Importantly, there was no cost-sharing or matching requirement stated for this opportunity, which can reduce barriers for eligible applicants and allow projects to be driven more by readiness and impact rather than the ability to raise matching funds.

Eligibility was broad, including state, county, and local governments (including city/township and special district governments), federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations, nonprofit organizations (including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) nonprofits), public and private institutions of higher education, small businesses, and other for-profit organizations. The program is listed under CFDA 11.463 (Habitat Conservation), which aligns with the restoration and conservation focus.

Key administrative details include the Funding Opportunity Number NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2013-2003606, a posted date of January 4, 2013, and an application closing date of February 27, 2013 (with an archive date of March 29, 2013). For applicants who could not access the full announcement electronically at the time, NOAA provided a contact: Jessica Berrio at 301-427-8654.

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