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Under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act), Subtitle F of P.L. 112-141, the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund was established in the Treasury of the United States. Eighty percent of the civil penalties paid after July 6, 2012, under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will be deposited into the Trust Fund and invested. The RESTORE Act created five components through which funds will be disbursed. Treasury is publishing multiple funding opportunity notices as part of the RESTORE Act. This announcement applies only to the Centers of Excellence Research Grants Program. Trust Fund amounts are available to establish one or more Centers of Excellence through competitive subawards to nongovernmental entities, including institutions of higher education. Funds may be used by those Centers of Excellence to conduct research only on the Gulf Coast region in one or more of the following disciplines: 1. Coastal and deltaic sustainability, restoration and protection, including solutions and technology that allow citizens to live in a safe and sustainable manner in a coastal delta in the Gulf Coast Region; 2. Coastal fisheries and wildlife ecosystem research and monitoring in the Gulf Coast Region; 3. Offshore energy development, including research and technology to improve the sustainable and safe development of energy resources in the Gulf of Mexico; 4. Sustainable and resilient growth, economic and commercial development in the Gulf Coast Region; and 5. Comprehensive observation, monitoring, and mapping of the Gulf of Mexico.

Funds may be used by those Centers of Excellence to conduct research only on the Gulf Coast region in one or more of the following disciplines: 1. Coastal and deltaic sustainability, restoration and protection, including solutions and technology that allow citizens to live in a safe and sustainable manner in a coastal delta in the Gulf Coast Region; 2. Coastal fisheries and wildlife ecosystem research and monitoring in the Gulf Coast Region; 3. Offshore energy development, including research and technology to improve the sustainable and safe development of energy resources in the Gulf of Mexico; 4. Sustainable and resilient growth, economic and commercial development in the Gulf Coast Region; and 5. Comprehensive observation, monitoring, and mapping of the Gulf of Mexico.

NOAA Fisheries Service (NMFS) developed the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (Plan) in consultation with the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (Team) to reduce the serious injury and mortality of several large whale species in U.S. commercial fisheries along the Atlantic coast. The Plan primarily addresses entanglement of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), although other large whale species expected to also benefit. The Plan has several monitoring components, including research priorities on: 1) identification of specific metrics for quantifying right whale abundance, trends in abundance, and trajectory of the population; 2) based on these metrics, determine most appropriate right whale survey and sampling methods/regimes to monitor the population and to detect and measure changes in population abundance; 3) Assess relative effectiveness of right whale threat-reduction measures; 4) identify most appropriate sampling and survey methods to assess possible changes in right whale distribution; and 5) Strategic evaluation of right whale assessment methods - appropriate balance of visual (vessel/aerial) surveys, passive acoustic moorings, gliders, and other assessment techniques. We are soliciting competitive proposals for grants and cooperative agreements that work to address any of the five monitoring priorities identified above. Total funding available under this notice is expected not to exceed $150,000. Actual funding availability for this program is contingent upon FY 2017 Federal appropriations. Award amounts will be determined by the proposals and available funds; one or more grants may be awarded.

NOAA Fisheries Service (NMFS) developed the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (Plan) in consultation with the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (Team) to reduce the serious injury and mortality of several large whale species in U.S. commercial fisheries along the Atlantic coast. The Plan primarily addresses entanglement of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), although other large whale species expected to also benefit. The Plan has several monitoring components, including research priorities on: 1) identification of specific metrics for quantifying right whale abundance, trends in abundance, and trajectory of the population; 2) based on these metrics, determine most appropriate right whale survey and sampling methods/regimes to monitor the population and to detect and measure changes in population abundance; 3) Assess relative effectiveness of right whale threat-reduction measures; 4) identify most appropriate sampling and survey methods to assess possible changes in right whale distribution; and 5) Strategic evaluation of right whale assessment methods - appropriate balance of visual (vessel/aerial) surveys, passive acoustic moorings, gliders, and other assessment techniques. We are soliciting competitive proposals for grants and cooperative agreements that work to address any of the five monitoring priorities identified above. Total funding available under this notice is expected not to exceed $150,000. Actual funding availability for this program is contingent upon FY 2017 Federal appropriations. Award amounts will be determined by the proposals and available funds; one or more grants may be awarded.

Hydrodynamics and Sediment Dynamics Along Coral Reef-lined Coasts

Save the Redwoods League supports basic and applied hypothesis-driven research on the biology and ecology of coast redwood and giant sequoia forests. To conserve and restore these ecosystems in the coming decades, the League funds research that expands our understanding of ecosystem function, community interactions, rare and threatened species, and the impact of climate change on redwood forests. We welcome proposals on all topics that advance our understanding of these ecosystems.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is offering a cooperative agreement opportunity to conduct ecosystem research in topics that serve the public interest in the safe and environmentally sound energy development on the nation's outer continental shelf. BOEM is proposing to pursue an ecosystem based cooperative agreement opportunity to conduct scientific monitoring to examine long-term drivers of the Boulder Patch community during the Liberty Development Project located in the Beaufort Sea Planning Area. This research will also test possible mitigation measures to replace habitat lost due to island construction activities. This is not an open solicitation for proposals. The OCSLA (43 USC 1345)authorizes the use of cooperative agreements with affected States to meet the requirements of OCSLA, including sharing of information and joint utilization of available expertise. This announcement is specifically to announce to undertake the following project: Impacts of Sedimentation and Drivers of Variability in the Boulder Patch Community, Beaufort Sea. Open to: University of Texas, Austin (via the Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit [CESU]) and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (via the North and Western Alaska CESU). No other proposals are requested at this time.

The purpose of this document is to advise the public that NOAA/NOS/NCCOS is soliciting applications for the NOAA RESTORE Science Program for projects of five years in duration with the option for a five year, non-competitive renewal award for high performing projects. This funding opportunity invites applications that propose to identify, track, understand, and/or predict trends and variability in the Gulf of Mexico's living coastal and marine resources and the processes driving them. Funding is contingent upon the availability of funds in the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund. It is anticipated that final recommendations for funding under this Announcement will be made in June 2019, and that projects funded under this Announcement will have a September 1, 2019 start date. Total funding for this competition will be approximately $15 million over five years and approximately six projects may be funded. The minimum individual award amount is approximately $500,000 over five years (an average of $100,000 per year) and the maximum individual award amount is approximately $7.5 million over five years (an average of $1.5 million per year). An additional $15 million may be available for five year, non-competitive renewals for high performing projects

The Environmental Studies Program (ESP) of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is offering a cooperative agreement to complete studies on the movements of low trophic level feeding elasmobranchs, such as Manta birostis.The purpose of this study is to understand movements, site fidelity and behavioral ecology of understudied highly migratory species, such as M. birostris, and the associated risk of interaction with BOEM permitted activities.Innovative methods will be used including, but not limited to: autonomous sensor platforms and improved animal bourne telemetry techniques which can relay data from neighboring animals, and/or which leverage the target species as mobile oceanographic platforms.Under the Use of Cooperative Agreements authority (43 U.S.C. §1457b), to enter into cooperative agreements with a state or political subdivision (including any agency thereof), or any not-for-profit organization.The general goals of this project is to understand movement drivers and site residency and fidelity of M. birostis, as it relates to sand shoals, particularly in the Canaveral Shoals, Florida Atlantic Coast region.Specifically, the objectives of this study are to understand the movement ecology of M. birostis in the US OCS and the impact fine scale behavior has on the risk of interaction with marine mineral activities, especially preventative trawling.

This research is critical for informing management agencies within Alaska and elsewhere as to biodiversity trajectories within a warming high latitude climate regime. Considerable preliminary data exist based on previous funded research efforts attesting to hybridization dynamics occurring between closely related ermine (Mustela erminea) lineages occupying boreal and Arctic biomes in western Alaska and eastern Canada, as well as more ancient hybridization dynamics associated with Beringian and North Pacific ermine lineages. As well, prior classical genetic research has uncovered signatures of past and recent hybridization between the two North American marten species, Martes americana and Martes caurina, on islands of the Alexander Archipelago of southeast Alaska and elsewhere along the North Pacific Coast.

NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary office) is seeking proposals under the Pacific Northwest B-WET Program (http://olympiccoast.noaa.gov/ocean_literacy/bwet.html). The Pacific Northwest B-WET Program is a competitive, environmental education, grants program that promotes locally relevant, experiential learning in the K-12 environment. Funded projects provide Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) for students, related professional development for teachers, and help to support regional education and environmental priorities in the Pacific Northwest. This Federal funding opportunity meets NOAA's Vision of healthy ocean ecosystems (http://www.noaa.gov/our-mission-and-vision ), helping to ensure that ocean, estuarine, and related ecosystems and the species that inhabit them are vibrant and sustainable in the face of challenges.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) through the Marine Minerals Program (MMP) is offering a cooperative agreement opportunity to conduct research to serve the public interest in offshore sand resources, coastal restoration, and coastal resiliency. The overall goal of this study is to collaborate on the development of a feasibility study investigating the viability of recovering economically valuable hard minerals from offshore sand deposits during beach nourishment dredging operations. Although the study will focus on known sand deposits in federal water offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula, methodologies and conclusions should be generally applicable to all nearshore Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) hard minerals. This Program Announcement describes a cooperative agreement that may be awarded to the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy (DMME). This is not an open solicitation for proposals. The OCSLA (43 USC 1345)authorizes the use of cooperative agreements with affected States to meet the requirements of OCSLA, including sharing of information, joint utilization of available expertise, formation of joint monitoring arrangements to carry out applicable Federal and State laws, regulations, and stipulations relevant to outer continental shelf operations both onshore and offshore. All awards are premised on receipt of an acceptable proposal.

The Wetland and Aquatic Research Center (WARC) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is offering a funding opportunity for research investigating the development, improvement, and portability of USGS-developed ecological modeling frameworks. This research should generally contribute to the coastal modeling, research, and restoration community.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Alaska Science Center (ASC) is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research to support an evaluation of how changes to foraging behavior may be influencing contaminant exposure of polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea. Specifically, the objective is to use adipose tissue samples to estimate polar bear diets and quantify exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation of polar bears has experienced sea ice loss leading to an increasing trend of polar bears spending time on land during summer and possibly increased divergent foraging strategies with differential exposure to contaminants. A characterization of dietary influence on exposure may reveal whether changing behavior has the potential to mediate declines in polar bear health.