Volunteers fish out marine debris from the Anacostia River Watershed during its annual cleanup in the Washington, D.C. metro area. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced $19 million in funding to clean up marine debris in coastal communities throughout the United States. Photo courtesy of NOAA
Sept. 13 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced plans to spend $19 million to clean up marine debris in coastal communities throughout the United States.
The funding, from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will go to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Grant College Program, the department announced Wednesday.
“Marine debris degrades water quality, harms habitats and ecosystems and hurts coastal workers and businesses,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
“These funding opportunities, part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda which is a key pillar of Bidenomics, will help us tackle the challenges of marine debris head on, helping to restore and protect our coastal marine environments and the communities that rely on them,” Raimondo added.
The funding is broken down into two parts with $16 million going to the Marine Debris Challenge Competition, which will support research and projects to prevent and remove marine debris.
Another $3 million will go to the Marine Debris Community Action Coalitions Opportunity, to create and support partnerships that tackle the issue of marine debris.
Applicants from the United States or tribal nations can submit their proposals through a Sea Grant Program.
“Through the Challenge funding opportunity, we will support innovative research that can readily and immediately be applied to prevent and remove marine debris,” Steve Thur, NOAA assistant administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, said in a statement.
“The goal is that the techniques developed by these awards can be broadly applied to locations around the country, multiplying the environmental and economic impacts of the funding well beyond marine debris removal at a single site,” Thur added.
The $19 million targeting marine debris is part of a larger investment of $3 billion by NOAA for habitat restoration, coastal resilience and weather forecasting infrastructure.
“The heaviest costs of marine debris pollution fall on those who have the least ability and resources to address it,” Jonathan Pennock, director of NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program, said in a statement.
“This funding opportunity is designed to bring more people together with the resources to tackle, prevent and remove marine debris in our coastal communities.”