The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded a $2,977,000 grant to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs to continue the administration of its coastal zone management program. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The grant will support the state’s federally approved management plan, which covers Massachusetts’s 1,519 miles of coast. The Massachusetts CZMP balances the demands of industries such as shipping, fishing, tourism and aquaculture with the need to protect the long-term health of the environment. This year’s grant will support the demands of dredging and dredge material disposal, coastal erosion, runoff pollution, public access, ocean resource management, port revitalization, and harbor planning. In addition to these programs, the Massachusetts CZMP gives grants to local governments’ coastal resource use plans, and to promote sound management of the Massachusetts coast. The 34 states and territories with federally approved coastal management programs have the flexibility to make day-to-day management decisions at the state level.

“Balancing the need for sustainable development with the protection and management of coastal resources is a core principle within NOAA,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “This grant allows the commonwealth of Massachusetts to manage its coastal resources while actively supporting NOAA’s and the Bush Administration’s commitment to the environment.”

The Coastal Management Program is a federal-state partnership dedicated to comprehensive management of the nation’s coastal resources, ensuring their protection for future generations while balancing competing national economic, cultural and environmental interests. The CZMP is authorized by the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 and administered at the federal level by the Coastal Programs Division within NOAA. For more information, visit:http://www.ocrm.nos.noaa.gov/czm/.

Each year, NOAA awards approximately $900 million in grants to members of the academic, scientific and business communities to assist the agency in fulfilling its mission 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. NOAA’s goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 34 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, please visit: http://www.noaa.gov.