The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued guidance July 26 for place-based projects using $132 million in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds being distributed via its National Estuary Program. The NEP, which started in 1987, funds water quality and ecological integrity recovery projects at 28 estuaries along the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts, plus Puerto Rico, considered to be of “national significance.”
In a memo to regional water division directors and NEP directors, EPA Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox wrote that the NEP's infrastructure act funding would be evenly distributed between the 28 programs, with each set to receive about $900,000 annually through 2026.Each program received $700,000 in federal funds for FY 2021.