Grants / Department of the Interior / Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

M20AS00214: PC-20-02 The Environmental Status of Artificial Structures Offshore California

Closed Closed July 30, 2021 Opportunity M20AS00214 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of Bureau of Ocean Energy Management notices from 2021.

• Award ceiling$750,000
• Award floor$740,000
• Total funding$750,000
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

This Program Announcement describes the specific project that may be awarded as a cooperative agreement between the Southern California Marine Institute (SCMI), and BOEM. Any award is premised on receipt of an acceptable proposal. This is not an open solicitation for proposals. This announcement is specifically to announce intent to undertake the following project: The Environmental Status of Artificial Structures Offshore California

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Environmental Studies (ES) awards averaged $612,245; this notice allows up to $750,000 per award.
• Most of the program's money (83% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

Offshore energy development changes the distribution and abundance of local marine habitats and species via the introduction of artificial substrate. This “artificial reef” effect potentially modifies a variety of local and regional processes, including those that drive the ecological dynamics of managed, sensitive, or non-native species. Artificial reefs may also enhance certain human activities such as fishing or diving. Decision makers must therefore understand how offshore projects that contribute significant amounts of hard substrate into the marine environment may be evaluated, managed, and potentially incorporated into an artificial reef program. In the Pacific OCS Region, habitat issues are of particular importance due to (1) the imminent decommissioning of oil and gas platforms, which may remove potentially important habitat for managed fish species; and (2) the introduction of new artificial habitat from floating offshore wind platforms. Information produced from this study will be used in NEPA and consultation documents when reviewing offshore projects that add marine infrastructure into the environment. The objectives of this study are to (1) Use relevant ecological indicators (e.g., productivity, biodiversity, biomass, etc.) to develop an improved understanding of how local or regional factors influence the variation in environmental status observed in marine infrastructure/facility/obstruction habitats (i.e., de facto artificial reefs) within the Pacific Region, particularly the Southern California Planning Area; (2) Generate a set of environmental criteria to evaluate potential artificial reef effects from future individual projects that may add or leave marine infrastructure in the environment; and (3) Gain insight in determining if existing energy infrastructure affects other uses of the outer continental shelf (OCS).

Category: Environment.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.