RESTORE Act Direct Component - Construction and Real Property Acquisition Activities | GR RDC 18 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for GR RDC 18 002

The RESTORE Act Direct Component - Construction and Real Property Acquisition Activities grant opportunity is a U.S. Department of the Treasury funding notice under the RESTORE Act (Subtitle F of P.L. 112-141), created in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The RESTORE Act established the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund in the U.S. Treasury, which receives 80 percent of certain civil penalties paid under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for violations connected to the spill (specifically, penalties paid after July 6, 2012). Those funds are deposited and invested, and then distributed through five RESTORE Act components. This particular notice applies only to the Direct Component and is limited to projects that involve construction and/or real property acquisition, including cases where the RESTORE-funded work is paired with another federally funded project and may or may not include a non-federal cost share. If an applicant is pursuing eligible activities that are not construction-related, Treasury indicated those proposals belong under a separate non-construction funding announcement.

At a high level, the Direct Component is meant to support tangible, on-the-ground investments that help restore the Gulf Coast environment and strengthen Gulf Coast economies impacted by the spill. The eligible uses of Trust Fund dollars are broad, spanning environmental restoration, economic development, and community protection needs. Specifically, the program can fund efforts to restore and protect natural resources and ecosystems across the region, including fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, and coastal wetlands. It can also support mitigation projects that address damage to fish, wildlife, and other natural resources, as well as work that implements federally approved marine, coastal, or comprehensive conservation management plans, including fisheries monitoring when tied to such plans.

Beyond ecological restoration, the opportunity also covers community and economic priorities. That includes workforce development and job creation initiatives, improvements to state parks in coastal areas affected by the spill, and infrastructure projects that benefit either the economy or ecological resources. The infrastructure category explicitly includes port infrastructure, reflecting the importance of maritime commerce and coastal industries to the region. Another major eligible area is coastal flood protection and related infrastructure, which can include built projects aimed at reducing flood risk and improving resilience for coastal communities. The list of eligible activities also includes planning assistance and administrative costs, and it supports activities that promote tourism in the Gulf Coast region (including recreational fishing) as well as promotion of Gulf Coast seafood consumption, recognizing the economic role of tourism and seafood industries in recovery.

Geography matters for this funding. For the first seven eligible activity categories (restoration/protection, mitigation, conservation plan implementation, workforce development/job creation, state park improvements, infrastructure, and coastal flood protection), the work must be carried out in the Gulf Coast region. This requirement is meant to ensure that the largest and most direct investments are physically located where the spill-related impacts occurred and where the Trust Fund is intended to generate long-term benefits.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant program (not a formula entitlement), using the grant instrument type, and it is associated with CFDA number 21.015. Eligible applicants are limited to governmental entities: state governments and county governments. The funding opportunity number is GR RDC 18 002, and the notice was created on January 17, 2018, with an original closing date of October 5, 2018. The listing shows a very high potential award ceiling (up to $87,310,315), signaling that the program can support large-scale capital projects such as major restoration construction, significant land acquisition for conservation purposes, or substantial resilience and infrastructure improvements, depending on the applicant’s plan and the available Trust Fund amounts.

• The U.S. Dept. of Treasury RESTORE Act Program in the environment, natural resources, other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "RESTORE Act Direct Component - Construction and Real Property Acquisition Activities" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 21.015.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-01-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-10-05. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $87,310,315.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments.

Apply for GR RDC 18 002

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