Federal

Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA-08) and Francis Rooney (R-FL) today introduced the Strengthening Coastal Communities Act, bipartisan legislation that would direct offshore wind revenues to NOAA’s Coastal Resilience Grants Program.

Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced last week that the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission has approved more than $130 million in funding for various wetland conservation projects.

RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam, who serves as chair of the Chesapeake Executive Council, issued the following statement today after Virginia joined Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia in filing suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its failure to enforce the terms of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement which require partner states to reduce their pollution levels in the allotted time frame.

Making good on threats issued months ago, three Chesapeake Bay watershed states, the District of Columbia and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation took the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to court Thursday for its failure to push Pennsylvania and New York to do more to help clean up the Bay.

With sweeping declarations identifying a need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create thousands of high-paying jobs, the proposed Green New Deal superficially appears to be the climate legislation that green advocates have been waiting for.

Green sea turtles are now nesting at a windward Oahu beach where the military trains.

Four of the nine research projects being funded will be conducted my Maine researchers and institutions

Washington, DC—The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and other animal and environmental protection groups applaud the Department of Commerce’s decision to prohibit Mystic Aquarium from breeding five captive-born beluga whales from Canada as part of an import permit issued Friday. The permit also precludes Mystic from training the whales for performance.

WASHINGTON (CN) — Conservationists sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for failing to protect the Nassau grouper, one of the largest coral reef fish, four years after it was designated a threatened species.

BREMERTON — Navy and state leaders are at odds over a proposed rule for military testing in Puget Sound and coastal waters of Washington that allows the increased potential to harass and harm marine life, including the endangered and fragile Southern Resident orca population.

The federally protected marine sanctuary has kept three major reefs safe from encroaching offshore oil drilling and commercial fishing.

Service continues to work with partners for marten conservation

The Department of Marine Resources finally has a budget almost two months after the start of the fiscal year, but the issues that led to the impasse will likely appear in next year’s session.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has approved Mystic Aquarium’s request for a permit to import five beluga whales from a facility in Canada.

The authorized project consists of restoring Barren Island (72 acres), which is 100 percent wetland, in combination with the restoration of James Island (2,072 acres), with a habitat proportion of 45 percent upland to 55 percent wetland and an upland dike height of 20 feet above mean lower low water.

EPA, Corps of Engineers Ask South Carolina Court to Reject Case

BOSTON – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with Restore America's Estuaries (RAE) announced the awarding of $1.8 million in new funding to local organizations working for clean water and healthy coastal ecosystems in Southeast New England.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has allegedly halted a probe into a case of possible political interference in conservation measures.

CHARLESTON, S.C.—Conservation groups today challenged in federal court a Trump administration rollback of clean water protections that sharply curtails the ability of states and local residents to protect their drinking water, rivers, streams, wetlands, aquatic life, and other local interests.

Despite the upcoming election frenzy and the myriad of things Congress has to deal with, negotiations between the House of Representatives and Senate to resolve differences between the two versions of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) in each chamber are ongoing, according to barge industry sources.

As Hurricane Douglas bore down on Hawaii and Hurricane Hanna threatened the eastern United States, FEMA administrator Pete Gaynor came clean about climate change. He admitted to Congress for the first time, that, yes, climate change does make storms worse.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recently circulated a draft proposal to renew its existing Nationwide Permits (NWPs) as well as create two new NWPs that would authorize seaweed and finfish aquaculture in coastal waters.1