The Department of Marine Resources’ Maine Coastal Program (MCP) and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Municipal Planning Assistance Program (MPAP) are each seeking applications for coastal planning grants totaling $315,000.

The two grants covered by this announcement are the Shore and Harbor Planning Grant and the Coastal Community Grant. Funding for these planning grants comes from Maine Coastal Program’s annual grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The program statements with application instructions can be found on the DMR and MPAP websites, respectively.

Applications are due by Friday, June 2, 2023, at 5:00 pm.

Eligible applicants include counties, municipalities, unorganized territories, tribal governments, and Regional Planning Organizations in Maine’s Coastal Zone.

These grants are being released to coincide with the next round of the Community Action Grants from the Governor’s Office of Policy, Innovation, and the Future’s Community Resilience Partnership. The Community Action Grants will be released in spring 2023.

Applicants are encouraged to explore opportunities to coordinate either the Shore and Harbor Planning Grant or the Coastal Community Grant with the Community Action Grant to maximize project scope and efficiency. As non-federal funding, the Community Action Grant funds are an eligible match for either the Shore and Harbor Planning Grant or the Coastal Community Grant.

Shore and Harbor Planning Grant

Shore and Harbor Planning Grants provide resources on a competitive basis for shoreline access planning, waterfront and harbor planning, identification and resolution of waterfront use conflicts, and planning, feasibility, and design efforts for resilient waterfront infrastructure. Shore and Harbor Planning Grant projects are often well prepared to compete for construction funding through other sources. 

Maine Coastal Program anticipates making multiple awards ranging from $5,000 - $50,000. Examples of past projects and “Lessons Learned” can be found on the MCP Example Projects, Maps, and Funding Summary webpage. Questions about Shore and Harbor Planning Grant applications should be directed to Melissa Britsch, melissa.britsch@maine.gov, (207) 215-6171.

Coastal Community Grant (CCG)

CCGs are competitive grants which support projects in Maine’s Coastal Zone that focus on the following priority coastal issues, as identified by Maine Coastal Program and the Maine Climate Council’s Maine Won’t Wait: A Four-Year Plan for Climate Action:

• Building Community Resiliency to Adapt to a Changing Climate
• Planning for Green Infrastructure
• Preparing for Flooding, Sea Level Rise, Coastal Storms and Storm Surge, and Shoreline Erosion
• Land Use Activity Impacts on Water Quality
  
  

CCGs are an important element of the MPAP mission to foster innovative and effective approaches to land use management by providing technical and financial assistance to Maine municipalities.

The Municipal Planning Assistance Program anticipates making multiple CCG awards ranging from $20,000 to $50,000. CCG case studies, which include “Lessons Learned” from previously funded projects, are available on MPAP’s CCG Case Studies webpage. Questions about CCG applications should be directed to Joan A. Walton, joan.walton@maine.gov, (207) 419-8661.