National Estuary Program Coastal Watersheds Grant

NEP Coastal Watersheds Grant 2022 RFP Released

Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) is pleased to announce the availability of the 2022 National Estuary Program Coastal Watersheds Grant (NEP CWG) Request for Proposals, available here.

“We are thrilled once again to offer critical funding to support our estuaries,” said President and CEO, Daniel Hayden. “We continue to be impressed and heartened by the quality of the submittals we’re receiving as it shows how dedicated and passionate people are about our estuarine systems and the communities that depend on them.”

NEP CWG Program is a nationally competitive grants program designed to support projects that address urgent and challenging issues threatening the well-being of coastal and estuarine areas within determined estuaries of national significance.

The goals of the CWG Program are to:

  • Address urgent and challenging issues that threaten the ecological and economic well-being of coastal areas and estuaries;
  • Achieve on-the-ground or tangible quantifiable improvements in coastal and estuarine habitat conditions and the health of living resources;
  • Apply new or innovative approaches, practices, methods, or techniques for preventing, treating, and removing pollution entering estuaries;
  • Establish or improve sustainable local capacity to protect and restore coastal watersheds and their living resources; and
  • Support and expand promising approaches for watershed resilience and adaptation.

RAE will select grantees through a two-step process: 1) letters of intent (LOI); and 2) full proposals by invitation only. LOIs are due on Friday, May 27, 2022. Only projects occurring within the specified geographic eligibility areas may receive funding.  

Informational webinars will occur on March 24 and March 30 for those interested in learning more.

New this year, organizations may request a full or partial waiver from the non-federal match requirement. We hope this will reduce barriers to application and project implementation.

Project funding will range between $75,000 and $250,000, resulting in roughly three to ten total subawards per funding year depending on the breakdown of the requests.

For more information, please contact Suzanne Simon at ssimon@estuaries.org or visit the NEP Coastal Watersheds Grant Program website.