A new federal grant program will fund projects to better protect counties and towns impacted by Sandy. FILE PHOTO Sandy-impacted municipalities and counties will be vying for a piece of the $50 million in federal funding recently made available to fund projects that would reduce flood risk and enhance resiliency.
Bob Considine, spokesman for the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), said the Flood Hazard Risk Reduction Measures Grant Program is aimed at protecting some of the more vulnerable communities in the nine counties most impacted by superstorm Sandy, including Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean.
“It is enhancing resiliency and reducing flood risk,” he said. “Any time you can reduce risk with these grants — that’s what the program is aiming to do.
“It would be for flood-risk reduction infrastructure, beneficial usages of dredge material, surge reduction measures for coastal lakes.”
There is a maximum $15 million award per project. The DEP is expected to announce the grants in January.
The grant program was established through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and is allocated through the DEP. According to a DEP press release, the program will focus on critical risk reduction initiatives such as addressing flood risks posed by coastal lakes and inland waterways; enhancing stormwater management systems; and incorporating both man-made flood barriers and nature-based solutions, such as restoration of wetlands and creation of living shorelines, where appropriate.
Considine said this would be the first grant program from the DEP specifically for resiliency projects post-Sandy. “Basically, they are resiliency projects, and we are looking for projects that are shovel-ready, not things that are going to go through a long planning process and design process,” he said.
The grant is only open to counties and municipalities; however, other governmental agencies, including housing/utility authorities and transportation agencies, are not eligible.
The program complements other Sandy recovery and resiliency efforts, which include Blue Acres buyouts of flood-prone residential properties, the DEP’s partnership with the N.J. Environmental Infrastructure Trust to provide financing for hardening of water and wastewater infrastructure, and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) residential flood-elevation program.
“We have certain programs that are already in place, and there is still money left from those. And we will have other grant programs in the future,” Considine said, adding that there might be a third round of money from the federal government.
The applications will be scored based on a 10-category rubric, which may be viewed online. The categories include whether the project is in a floodplain, impact on sea level rise, constructability, cost benefit, critical infrastructure protection, budget and schedule.
According to Considine, whether damage from Sandy occurred specifically is not a determining factor for the grant program. However, part of the grant scoring counts repetitive loss and severe repetitive loss.
Municipalities are also encouraged to take a regional approach and apply for multijurisdictional funding.
The DEP hosted an information session on the grant program in Trenton on Nov. 14. The deadline for submissions is Dec. 15.