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

M23AS00363: NT-23-10a: Feel the Vibrations: Behavioral Response by Fish and Invertebrates to Particle Motion/Substrate Vibration from Pile-Driving

Closed Closed August 15, 2023 Opportunity M23AS00363 ☆ 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 2023.

• Award ceiling$450,000
• Award floor$400,000
• Total funding$450,000
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to colleges and universities and state and local governments.

• State governments
• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

Eligible applicants are Coastal State Governments and Public, State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education in the following Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESUs): North Atlantic Coast, Chesapeake Watershed, Gulf Coast, Californian, and Pacific Northwest. This Program Announcement describes the specific project that may be awarded to the universities or eligible groups identified. An award is premised on receipt of an acceptable proposal. This is not an open solicitation for proposals. Research projects are required to have a staff member of the applying organization as the Principal Investigator (PI). Cooperative research between interested organizations-i.e., state agencies, public universities, and non-profits in affected states-is always encouraged.

More grants for colleges and universities, state and local governments.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Environmental Studies (ES) awards averaged $612,245; this notice allows up to $450,000 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 construction activities routinely involve sound and vibration-generating activities, such as pile driving. Little is known about the effects of substrate-borne, vibroacoustic disturbances on marine life living on or in the substrate. BOEM will use the behavioral response information expected from this proposed study to make more informed assessments of the impacts of its activities. The study will include species of ecological and commercial importance. The results will directly inform the animal behavior component of the Center for Marine Acoustic’s (CMA’s) acoustic impact model. Also, the results will inform CMA’s technical papers that inform BOEM’s environmental and biological impact assessments and consultations under the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. The objective of this study is to provide insight about the potential effects of particle motion and substrate-borne vibration from pile-driving activity on demersal fish and invertebrates through a dedicated empirical behavioral response study. The proposed study will assess the behavior of demersal fish and invertebrates during actual pile driving (preferred) or simulated pile-driving activity (acceptable). The study will include a control group to assess baseline behavior without pile-driving activity. Measurements will be made of the vibroacoustic field (must include particle motion and substrate vibration), using appropriate tools for each type of vibroacoustic wave. The study output will provide appropriate context for assessing the cause of any observed changes in behavior by including measurements and documentation of other relevant disturbances and environmental factors. The objectives will be achieved through one or more field studies, with the intention of examining a vibroacoustic field that is representative of offshore construction pile driving.

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.

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