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After a highly competitive review process, the NOAA Marine Debris Program is proud to announce 13 new projects awarded funding under our NOAA Marine Debris Removal and Interception Technologies grant awards for Fiscal Year 2024. These projects represent an investment in over $23 million in federal funding for marine debris removal. The awarded projects under the two separate nationwide competitive funding opportunities continue the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s commitment to make tangible, beneficial impacts to coastal and marine habitats and communities across the nation.
Funding for these opportunities was provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a transformational opportunity to make an impact against the climate crisis across the country. This initiative includes the prevention, mitigation, and removal of marine debris from coastal communities and marine ecosystems.
These competitions focused on two priority areas. The first funding opportunity focused on the removal of large-scale marine debris, such as abandoned and derelict vessels and derelict fishing gear. The second funding opportunity focused on marine debris removal through the deployment and management of proven debris interception technologies.
The Fiscal Year 2024 awarded projects are:
Removal:
American Samoa Department of Port Administration (American Samoa, $3,049,396) will assess and remove abandoned vessels from the waters surrounding Tutuila Island, American Samoa. The project will also collaborate with the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources to monitor removal sites. Learn more about this project.
City of Benton Harbor (Michigan, $1,032,500) will remove large marine debris in Ox Creek, which feeds into Lake Michigan, and contribute to ongoing revitalization efforts identified by adjacent communities facing environmental and economic burdens. The City will also engage the community to develop creative solutions to prevent littering and illegal dumping. Learn more about this project.
City of Oakland (California, $3,164,649) will remove abandoned and derelict vessels and other large debris items including appliances, furniture, and a large debris pile from the Oakland Alameda Estuary. The project will also institute a boat buy-back program and lead shoreline cleanups and outreach efforts involving estuary stakeholders, marinas, local aquatic teams and clubs, businesses, neighborhood groups, and the extended estuary community to raise awareness and collaborate on solutions to prevent marine debris. Learn more about this project.
Gulf of Alaska Keeper (Alaska, $3,799,493) will work with community-based partners to conduct a high-impact removal effort using helicopters and professional crews on over 70 miles of Montague Island’s shoreline in the northern Gulf of Alaska. The project will also collect data during annual cleanups and retrieve chemically treated wood stockpiled at Gore Point on the Kenai Peninsula. Learn more about this project.
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (Washington, DC and Maryland, $963,132) will conduct removals of abandoned and derelict vessels and other large debris along the tidal Anacostia River in Washington, DC and Maryland. Outreach programs will engage recreational users, local marinas, and upstream communities to prevent the reaccumulation of debris. Learn more about this project.
Ocean Conservancy (National, $5,218,000) will administer a national competitive grant program for the removal of large marine debris, including derelict fishing gear. The project will also provide funding to Tribal organizations to remove debris in southwest Alaska, remove marine debris in Florida’s Lower Keys, work with California fishers on solutions to ghost gear challenges, create tools to better understand the issue of derelict fishing gear, and identify solutions to prevent future gear loss. Learn more about this project.
The Ocean Foundation (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, $847,881) will collaborate with local fishers to remove derelict fishing gear from the waters of Puerto Rico and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The project will engage the community to develop education and prevention initiatives, including a trap trade-in program that aims to incentivize the use of legal traps and reduce the reaccumulation of derelict fishing gear. Learn more about this project.
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (Rhode Island, $1,500,512) will remove a derelict, sunken crane-topped barge from the working waterfront in Providence, Rhode Island. This project will partner with The Steel Yard to engage community groups and local high school students to transform materials recovered from the barge into community-informed art and amenities for a public waterfront access point. Learn more about this project.
Washington State Department of Natural Resources (Washington, $1,029,285) in collaboration with the Squaxin Island Tribe, will remove abandoned and derelict vessels from the South Puget Sound on tidelands owned by the Squaxin Island Tribe to address pollution in a critically important cultural, recreation, and subsistence location. The project will also hold six vessel turn-in events throughout Western Washington to intercept vessels before they become derelict or abandoned. Learn more about this project.
Interception Technologies:
Florida State University (Florida, $677,554) will prevent the introduction of marine debris into the St. Andrew Bay watershed by deploying catch basin interception devices in storm drains. An outreach campaign will be paired with interception efforts to reduce the amount of marine debris entering waterways and the challenges to local municipalities, particularly after flood events. Learn more about this project.
Galveston Bay Foundation. (Texas, $505,592) will utilize boom-style interception devices in several Houston waterways to reduce urban pollution into Galveston Bay, the largest estuary in Texas. Citizen science and cleanup programs will build on the understanding of local debris issues, encourage behavior change, and inform prevention and education programs throughout the watershed. Learn more about this project.
Rochester Institute of Technology (New York, $912,829) will stem the flow of marine debris into Lake Ontario by installing storm drain catchment devices throughout the city of Rochester, New York. The project will develop and share best practices through a collaborative workshop and the development of a data-driven model to inform optimal device placement at the neighborhood scale in other cities. Learn more about this project.
Savannah Riverkeeper Inc (Georgia, $560,965) will utilize litter intercepting booms to reduce marine debris within the Ogeechee and Savannah River watersheds. This project will engage businesses, civic organizations, local schools, and subsistence fishermen in outreach to prevent debris reaccumulation. Learn more about this project.