NOAA 2002-R906 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Aja Sae-Kung 10/1/02

NOAA News Releases 2002 NOAA Home Page NOAA Public Affairs

NOAA AWARDS $1.8 MILLION GRANT TO DELAWARE’S COASTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded a $1,847,000 grant to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control which administers the state’s Coastal Management Program as part of the unique state-federal partnership created as part of the Coastal Zone Management Act. The grant provides funding to continue efforts to preserve and protect Delaware’s 381 miles of coast. “Through continued support to coastal management programs, NOAA and our partners work toward sustaining healthy coasts and coastal communities,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “This grant enables state level management of hundreds of miles of coast and provides an excellent example of a successful local and federal partnership.” The grant will provide funding to implement, administer and coordinate the state’s coastal zone management program which was federally approved in 1979. The funding will support public outreach programs, water quality monitoring and coastal habitat protection and restoration. In addition, the program will tackle the major challenges facing Delaware’s coasts; non-point source pollution and the cumulative and secondary impacts of population growth and urban development. The National Coastal Zone Management Program (CZMP) is managed by NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, which also administers the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. The CZMP's unique state-federal partnership leaves day-to-day management decisions at the state level in the 33 states and territories with federally approved coastal management programs. Currently, 95,331 national shoreline miles (99.9%) are managed by the program. Of the remaining 108 miles, 45 lie within Indiana, which is in the process of program development, and the rest within Illinois, which is not participating. State and federal coastal zone management efforts are organized around three major themes: Sustain Coastal Communities, Sustain Coastal Ecosystems, and Improve Government Efficiency. NOAA will award over $800 million in grants during 2002 to members of the academic, scientific, and business communities to assist the agency fulfill its mission which is to study the Earth’s natural systems in order to predict environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property, and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. Our goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for 32 years. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. To learn more about NOAA and its grants programs, please visit http://www.noaa.gov. To learn more about the Coastal Zone Management Program, please visit http://www.ocrm.nos.noaa.gov/czm/. To visit the Delaware Coastal Management Program Web site go to: http://www.ocrm.nos.noaa.gov/czm/czmdelaware.html.