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Local organizations are receiving a total of $574,974 to protect and restore the Delaware Estuary Coastal Zone, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced Wednesday. The grant funding will help pay for 12 education, design, and engineering projects that aim to benefit habitat and the ecosystem. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grants, which are administered by DEP’s Coastal Resources Management Program, have been given out annually since 1980. The program has provided more than $50 million in funding for coastal zone projects. “Our coastal zones are vital environmental, economic, and community resources for the commonwealth,” DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said in a statement. “Each year, the diverse Coastal Zone projects help us rethink, reexamine, and rededicate our efforts towards a comprehensive approach to ensuring the sustainability of these habitats.” Read more

Governor Ron DeSantis announced Friday the state would award $80 million in grants to South Florida cities and counties to deal with storm-water and flood-control problems — with nearly $40 million going to two Miami projects. “As a storm-prone state, we need to make sure we’re mitigating the effects of these weather events,” DeSantis said at a press conference at Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades on Friday morning. Miami will receive $19.8 million to improve storm water infrastructure in the southwest part of Wynwood, and $18.4 million to alleviate chronic flooding in East Little Havana. Read more

The Guam Coastal Management Program has released a new Guam Shoreline Atlas study with emphasis on shorelines experiencing erosion, containing at-risk infrastructure, or needing shore protection. The study was prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu District and describes the physical characteristics of Guam’s shoreline. “This Atlas provides us with an overview of current shoreline conditions throughout Guam. With this, our shoreline managers and environmental protectors have the tools they need for us to effectively combat erosion and preserve our beaches,” said Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero. Read more

Washington’s coastlines experienced only minor surges from a tsunami triggered by a spectacular underwater eruption in the South Pacific. The event marked the first Pacific-wide tsunami warning from a volcanic eruption instead of an earthquake, said Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network at the University of Washington. Despite the unusual nature of the event, the tsunami-warning system worked well, Tobin added. The advisory was issued quickly and communicated widely. While Washington was unscathed this time, the tsunami advisory is a reminder of the region’s vulnerable position and geologically volatile nature. People in areas with no high ground, like parts of the Long Beach Peninsula and Ocean Shores, would be hard-pressed to evacuate in time. A recent analysis by Washington’s Emergency Management Division estimates the state needs to build at least 58 vertical evacuation structures — either towers, berms or tsunami-resistant buildings — to ensure coastal residents can escape the high water. Read more

The federal portion of a $6-billion coastal protection project in Louisiana will move forward after the signing of a Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District and state and local officials on Jan. 18. The Morganza-to-the-Gulf of Mexico plan calls for construction of about 98 miles of levees with 22 flood gates, 10 road and rail gates, pump station protections, 23 environmental control structures and a lock complex on the Houma Navigation Canal in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes southwest of New Orleans. Read more

Federal energy regulators have begun reviewing the potential environmental impacts of offshore wind development in the Gulf of Mexico, in keeping with President Joe Biden’s goal to produce thousands of megawatts of offshore wind energy within the next few years. The administration hopes to open the Gulf to wind lease sales by 2025, a step that will align with broader plans to produce at least 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the federal agency that oversees offshore oil, gas and wind permitting, began crafting a draft environmental assessment for a 30 million-acre area stretching from the Mississippi River to the Texas-Mexico border. The assessment will consider how the construction and operation of offshore wind turbines affects fisheries, marine mammals, birds and other elements of the marine environment. Read more

Deadline Tomorrow: California Ocean Protection Council - Offshore Wind Program Manager

California Coastal Commission - Multiple Coastal Program Positions