Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced that $1.4 million in grant funding is available to help New York watersheds, including the Long Island Sound and the Peconic Estuary, improve water quality, increase flood resiliency and conserve natural resources, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The other eligible watersheds are Hudson River Estuary, Jamaica Bay, and South Shore Estuary Reserve.

The funding is provided by the State's Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) and is administered under the DEC’s 2018 Hudson River Estuary Grants Program for Tributary Restoration and Resiliency and Marine Habitat Tributary Restoration and Resiliency Grants.

The Tributary Restoration and Resiliency grants will help remove dams to restore aquatic habitat connectivity for American eel and/or river herring found in tributary streams of New York estuaries. The grants are also intended to help communities with existing and projected impacts of localized flooding along tributaries of the Hudson and marine estuaries by removing constrictions.

To be eligible for funding, projects must conserve and restore aquatic habitat connectivity for one or both of two Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN)--American eel and/or river herring found in the tributary streams of the watersheds. In most cases, projects must also be designed to pass, at a minimum, a one percent annual chance storm (100-year flood) to promote flood resiliency. Priority will be given to dam removal projects near tidal waters, because of their importance for improving habitat for American eel and river herring.

Applicants may apply for dam removal projects, construction of fish ladders, and engineering and planning projects for removal of dams, construction of fish ladders, and for right-sizing of culverts affecting eel or herring migration within the boundaries of the Division of Marine Resource priority areas. This includes the Long Island Sound watershed; Peconic Estuary watershed, South Shore Estuary Reserve watershed, and Jamaica Bay. View the map of eligible boundaries. The minimum grant award is $10,500, and the maximum is $375,000.

DEC's Division of Marine Resources manages, restores, and enhances native marine, estuarine, and migratory fish and their habitats. The New York State Ocean Action Plan, announced in January 2017, focuses on improving the health of ocean ecosystems and their capacity to provide sustainable benefits to New Yorkers. Priorities include protecting and restoring sensitive inshore, offshore, and estuarine habitats; and managing ecologically and economically important species, including removing or modifying impediments to migratory fish.

The 2018 Request for Applications for Tributary Restoration and Resiliency is available online through the NYS Grants Gateway. All grant applicants, including governmental entities and not-for-profit corporations, must be registered in the Grants Gateway to be eligible to apply for any state grant opportunity. Not-For-Profit applicants are required to "prequalify" in the Grants Gateway system. Registration and prequalification information and forms are available online at grantsreform.ny.gov.

Completed grant applications must be submitted online through the Grants Gateway by 3pm on April 18, 2018. To learn more, visit grantsreform.ny.gov/training-calendar, call 518-474-5595 or email GrantsReform@its.ny.gov. General questions about the grants application process may be directed to Susan Pepe, Estuary Grants Manager, NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233; HREPgrants@dec.ny.gov.