Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund (LISCIF) General Resources

The Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund (LISCIF) is a partnership among Restore America’s Estuaries, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Long Island Sound Partnership. The purpose of LISCIF is to provide technical and financial assistance to communities for addressing environmental issues and to improve the quality and accessibility of the Long Island Sound. Technical assistance will be provided through LISCIF and is available to communities/organizations even if one does not submit a proposal for funding.

Funding Priorities  

LISCIF’s funding priorities are aligned with the CCMP themes and Actions:  

For 2027, LISCIF’s main funding themes are:   

• Clean Waters and Healthy Watersheds  

• Thriving Habitats and Abundant Wildlife  

• Sustainable and Resilient Communities   

• Informed and Engaged Public  

The Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund aims to build capacity for organizations located in communities affected by environmental and human health risks. The Fund seeks to provide technical assistance for communities and support proposals which ultimately improve access to the Long Island Sound, while reducing overall environmental health risks. Eligible projects and activities will be community-driven and address one of the funding priorities below:   

Funding is available for:   

• Projects that result in quantifiable pollutant prevention or reduction.   

• Restoring habitat within the Important Coastal Habitat Types targeted by LIS Partnership.  

• Projects that foster a diverse balance and abundant populations of fish, birds, and wildlife.    

• Public engagement, knowledge, and stewardship.  

• Projects that enhance community resilience and sustainability.   

• Planning and design that set-the-stage for implementation of water quality projects, eligible habitat restoration projects and resilience projects.   

• Community-based science projects.  

• Data management and integration projects.   

• Other similar activities that the applicant proposes, and EPA approves, that are consistent with Section 119 of the Clean Water Act. 

Goal: Increase organizational capacity through training that supports day-to-day operations, project implementation, and future funding opportunities; help organizational leadership manage larger and potentially different projects while fostering organizational development at all levels of the organizations to support efficient and effective operations 

Objectives:  

• Identify issues affecting the Long Island Sound watershed and propose projects to address concerns.  
• Write a project narrative for LISCIF and future funding opportunities.  
• Identify areas of need for the organization and fill those gaps. 
• Implement new project tools acquired by trainings.      
• Develop bookkeeping policies and implement budgeting procedures.  
• Implement data management tools and GIS mapping. 
• Integrate findings through various styles of reporting.  
• Expand network, partnerships, and outreach.

If you have any questions, please contact the Program Director, Shahela Begum at sbegum@estuaries.org, the Grant Administrator, Undria Polley at upolley@estuaries.org, or the Program Associate, Kellie Marty at kmarty@estuaries.org.

Opportunities Are Under Two Separate Program Tracks

Need Help with Your Project?

The Long Island Sound Partnership sustainable and resilient communities extension professionals have established two assistance programs–the Long Island Sound Resilience Grant Writing Assistance Program and the Long Island Sound Resilience Planning Support Program.

Both programs are intended to assist communities within the Long Island Sound coastal boundary across New York and Connecticut. These programs address the main barriers we have heard in planning, designing, and implementing sustainability and resilience-focused projects–a lack of capacity, expertise and resources to prepare and apply for funding and a lack of capacity and resources to identify, conceptualize and develop projects. These opportunities are supported by funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Long Island Sound Partnership and administered through New York Sea Grant (NYSG) and Connecticut Sea Grant (CTSG). The map below shows the Long Island Sound coastal boundary in pink.

The request for proposals is available on the Long Island Sound Resilience Resource Hub website.