The following article can be found at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/nearly-105-million-fish-passage-funding-recommended-under-bipartisan-infrastructure?s=03

Nearly $105 Million in Fish Passage Funding Recommended under Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Including Significant Funding for Tribes

Thirty-six new projects will reopen migratory pathways, restore access to healthy habitat for fish, and build tribal capacity to participate in developing and implementing fish passage projects.

NOAA is recommending nearly $105 million in funding for 36 fish passage projects this year and $61 million in future funding under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. With this historic level of funding, our partners will reopen migratory pathways and restore access to healthy habitat for fish across the country.

Fifteen of these projects—more than $26.3 million in funding—will be led by tribal applicants for fish passage and to build tribal organizational capacity. In addition, nearly two-thirds of the remaining projects will directly involve tribes and are aligned with tribal priorities. Tribes will play key roles in decision-making and build capacity to help recover tribally-important migratory fish.  The projects will also provide community and economic benefits such as jobs and training opportunities. 

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity for NOAA to continue making an impact for fisheries, protected resources, and coastal communities. These projects will help recover endangered migratory fish and support the sustainability of commercial, recreational, and tribal fisheries. They will also support coastal communities by removing derelict and unsafe dams, removing contaminated sediments, improving opportunities for recreation, and adapting to climate change by reducing flooding and improving threatened infrastructure.

View tribal priority fish passage projects recommended for funding

View fish passage projects recommended for funding

Tribal Priority Fish Passage Projects Recommended for Funding

NOAA is recommending more than $16 million in funding for 13 projects selected through the Restoring Tribal Priority Fish Passage through Barrier Removal funding opportunity. 

These projects will support Indian tribes in their role as managers and stewards of tribal trust resources for cultural, spiritual, economic, subsistence, and recreational purposes. They will support tribally important fish passage barrier removal projects and help to increase tribal capacity to participate in developing current and future fish passage projects. 

Fish Passage Projects Recommended for Funding

NOAA is recommending more than $87 million in funding for 23 projects selected through the Restoring Fish Passage through Barrier Removal funding opportunity. 

These projects will help restore access to healthy habitat for migratory fish across the country through efforts including: on-the-ground fish passage restoration, engineering and design, future project development, and building the capacity of new and existing partners to design projects and manage multi-faceted restoration efforts. 

Fish Passage and NOAA

Every year, millions of fish migrate to their spawning and rearing habitats to reproduce. Some fish need to swim thousands of miles through oceans and rivers to reach their destinations. They are often blocked from completing their journey by barriers like dams and culverts. When fish can’t reach their habitat, they can’t reproduce and maintain or grow their populations. As a result, many fish populations have declined. NOAA works to reopen these migratory pathways, restoring access to healthy habitat for fish. 

NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation has a long history conducting habitat restoration efforts, including fish passage, with large-scale competitive funding opportunities and expert technical assistance. Through our Community-based Restoration Program, we have partnered with more than 2,600 organizations to take on more than 2,200 projects since 1996. These efforts have restored more than 94,000 acres of habitat and opened up more than 4,400 miles of streams and rivers to fish migration.

Following the Inflation Reduction Act being signed into law, NOAA Administrator Dr. Rick Spinrad released the following statement:

“Communities across the nation are facing hurricanes, drought, wildfires, extreme heat and intense flooding, with ecosystems and wildlife threatened by habitat loss, sea level rise, warming waters and a host of other threats from a changing climate. 

Over the next five years, the $3.3 billion for NOAA in the Inflation Reduction Act will support Americans – including vulnerable populations – to prepare, adapt, and build resilience to weather and climate events; improve supercomputing capacity and research on weather, oceans and climate; strengthen NOAA’s hurricane hunter fleet; and replace aging NOAA facilities. This, in combination with funds NOAA received from Congress through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will further strengthen NOAA’s efforts to build a Climate-Ready Nation.

As an integral part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA’s weather and climate data, tools, analyses and predictions are used daily by citizens, community leaders, and businesses to make critical decisions. This Act’s significant investment in NOAA will allow us to address the growing demand for information and facilitate new products and services. This historic funding is thanks to strong leadership from Congress and President Biden, who made climate action a priority on Day 1 of his administration. I am grateful for and energized by the ongoing support of NOAA’s science, service, and stewardship mission.”

— Dr. Rick Spinrad

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes a $3.3 billion investment in NOAA’s work to build a Climate-Ready Nation

NOAA Science, Service and Stewardship

• $2.6 billion for NOAA to assist coastal states, the District of Columbia, Tribal Governments, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education to become more prepared and resilient to changes in climate. These investments will also support NOAA’s understanding of marine resource trends in the face of climate change, enabling more targeted conservation, restoration and protection measures for coastal and marine habitats, fisheries, and marine mammals.
• $150 million for NOAA to accelerate advances and improvements in research, observation systems, modeling, forecasting, assessments, and dissemination of climate information to the public. This investment will enhance NOAA’s authoritative climate products and services. 
• $50 million for NOAA to administer climate research grants to address climate challenges such as impacts of extreme events; water availability and quality; impacts of changing ocean conditions on marine life; improved greenhouse gas and ocean carbon monitoring; coastal resilience and sea level rise.This research will provide the science that Americans need to understand how, where, and when Earth’s conditions are changing. 
• $190 million for high performance computing capacity and research for weather, oceans and climate. This investment will enable NOAA to procure research supercomputing equipment used for weather and climate model development to improve drought, flood, and wildfire prediction, detection, and forecasting.
• $20 million for NOAA to conduct more efficient, accurate, and timely reviews for planning, permitting and approval processes. These investments will allow NOAA to provide more efficient, accurate, and timely permit reviews, through the hiring and training of personnel, development of programmatic documents, procurement of technical or scientific services, development of data and information systems, stakeholder and community engagement, and the development of analysis tools, techniques, and guidance.

NOAA facilities and aircraft 

• $150 million to replace aging facilities and construct new ones, including piers, marine operations facilities, and fisheries labs. NOAA’s facilities and infrastructure are vulnerable to a full range of weather and climate impacts. Safe and modern facilities are vital to support NOAA’s mission of science, service, and stewardship.
• $50 million to construct NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuary facilities that will enhance and expand National Marine Sanctuaries facilities.
• $100 million for NOAA to acquire a new Hurricane Hunter aircraft. This investment will sustain NOAA’s ability to provide life-saving hurricane observations.