Federal

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced that the Department disbursed almost $353 million in FY 2019 energy revenues to the four Gulf oil and gas producing states – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, and their coastal political subdivisions (CPS) – an increase of 64.2 percent ($138 million) over the prior year. The funds will be used to support coastal conservation and restoration projects; hurricane protection programs; and activities to implement marine, coastal or conservation management plans.

The COVID 19 monies that will soon be propelled into the nation’s hands include help for the seafood industry, which has been affected by closures in restaurants and bars.

Federal fishing regulators are evaluating how to use electronic monitoring to help manage one of the largest fisheries on the East Coast.

When I started thinking about this message weeks ago, I initially planned for it to tie together NOAA’s 50th anniversary, Women’s History Month, and lessons I’ve learned throughout my career. Now, as I settle into my home office for the foreseeable future, our world is being turned upside down by COVID-19.

2020 Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Watershed Grants.

An arm of the federal government is temporarily waiving the need for some fishing vessels to carry at-sea monitors.

Environment minister rejects most of the appeals against Tormin expansion plans.

The commanding officer of an aircraft carrier sidelined in Guam says there are more than 100 positive cases of the illness caused by the coronavirus among its crew and is calling on Navy leadership to do more to protect the lives of his sailors.

The US seafood industry received a $300 million assist from the $2 trillion COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress on March 27, and a wide coalition of industry stakeholders is hoping for more.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management has announced more than $43 million in grants to improve the resilience of local communities and wildlife habitat in the face of increasingly severe and frequent natural disasters.

Provision would make it easier for Congress to spend money to maintain nation's harbors

A video and related article that outlines a timeline of major NOAA accomplishments in the last 50 years.

Nowadays it’s noteworthy to learn of any bipartisan measures in Washington, especially when it appears to benefit a handful of states.

NFWF, NOAA and grantees deliver $98 million in total conservation impact for communities devastated by 2018 natural disasters

A Request for Proposals (RFP) will be issued on Monday, March 23, and calls for an award of up to $45 million for 5 years. Offerors have until May 11, 2020 to submit proposals. For more information, please see the EPIC Synops

Local legend has it that Beinn Ghobhlach mountain in the Scottish Highlands was once home to a witch. Resentful of sharing the area with people, she planned to cast a spell that would destroy the surrounding forests, making the land uninhabitable. Before she could unleash the destruction, an enraged god used his sword to split her and the mountain in half, saving the forests and the people who relied on them.

Hurricane response fund offers help for marine debris removal after Hurricanes Michael, Florence and Typhoon Yutu

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released the first annual report on the progress made in mapping U.S. ocean, coastal and Great Lakes waters, the agency said in a release.

NFWF, NOAA and grantees deliver $98 million in total conservation impact for communities devastated by 2018 natural disasters

Deep-sea ecosystems under threat from an emerging ocean industry.

Sharks are killed 30 percent faster than they can reproduce, including for the inhumane fin trade.

GALVESTON, Texas – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District announced today that it has completed the Brazos River Fort Bend Flood Risk Management Feasibility Study and is recommending that no federal action be taken.

The Army Corps of Engineers is encouraging cities across the country to use eminent domain to force sales of frequently flooded homes, but the practice isn’t on the table in Charleston.

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) called the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska “a major threat to Pacific salmon” at a hearing in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, 11 March.

A research scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration admits this winter’s ice cap prediction on the Great Lakes was completely wrong.

Congress will get a chance to weigh a bill that would offer Michigan’s shoreline communities access to $300 million in a low-interest revolving loan fund.

WASHINGTON — The federal government is giving local officials nationwide a painful choice: Agree to use eminent domain to force people out of flood-prone homes, or forfeit a shot at federal money they need to combat climate change.

RACINE COUNTY — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has officially declared the Jan. 10-12 storm that hit southeastern Wisconsin an emergency, opening funding avenues for repairing the estimated $10 million in regional damage — $2.58 million in Racine County.

For the first time in decades, the U.S. Navy's 2nd Fleet is conducting an opposed sealift convoy exercise across the North Atlantic - an operation that has not been conducted against an enemy force since the Second World War.

For the past 30 years, the SEAL Teams have had had an agreement with Washington State to be permitted to train on five of their State Parks. Recently, the Navy presented a proposal to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, seeking access to 29 State Parks for training purposes.

Trump administration ignores warnings about disturbing North Atlantic right whale to relax rules for oil exploration

Even before the president reversed course, senators said they intended to ignore his budget proposal

The Trump administration agreed Wednesday to determine by this summer whether it will extend federal wildlife protections to Hawaii’s cauliflower coral reef.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance today filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island against the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), as well as the heads of those agencies. The suit challenges the agencies’ unconstitutional and statutorily unauthorized effort to force fishing companies to pay for a new agency enforcement program. NCLA represents Relentless Inc., Huntress Inc., and their related company, Seafreeze Fleet LLC, in this facial challenge to DOC/NOAA’s newly promulgated rule.

The vital role of the ocean, climate change, and actions to safeguard it for future generations were the focus of conversations between The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Marine Institute during the royal couple’s first official visit to Ireland.

As authorities struggle to find whoever shot a dolphin and stabbed another along the Florida coast this year, a federal agency has nearly tripled a reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the cruel killings.

Opening arguments ended Monday in Texas in the highest profile criminal case ever brought against a company and its employees for allegedly failing to adequately prepare for the effects of climate change.

The National Weather Service office in Newport / Morehead City recently announced that this week, March 1 – 7, is Severe Weather Preparedness week in North Carolina, and the organization has launched a new website to highlight daily topics that are essential for safety and preparation.

Public session considers curbing development in flood-prone coastal areas

A Florida House committee Monday unanimously endorsed a bill requiring municipalities and state agencies building structures on beaches or in tropical storm flood zones to first conduct a sea level impact study.

We read with much dismay, but not surprise, the news of how hundreds of freshwater sunfish washed up dead on Easton’s Beach last month.

Virginia is working on a $120.5 million project to address the impacts of sea level rise in Hampton Roads.

Our coasts and ocean are under siege due to climate change. Sea level rise, extreme weather events and ocean acidification are already putting our nation’s coastlines at risk. Climate change impacts are also taking a devastating toll on coastal economies and local communities.

When a proposal to build a giant sea wall to protect the region from the next Superstorm Sandy was unveiled in 2018, it was met with strong opposition by environmentalists and some local officials, who said it would destroy the ecology of North Jersey’s tidal rivers and redirect a potentially devastating storm surge to the Jersey Shore.

Florida Republicans have tentatively embraced climate change even though it puts them at odds with President Donald Trump. As the election nears, political watchers say one side is going to acquiesce in order to win.

Collier County's coastal residents and property owners can get an up-close look at new draft preliminary flood maps at three upcoming public open houses

One hundred miles to the west of the proposed mine site is Bristol Bay, home to the largest sockeye salmon fishery