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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 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, coastal resiliency and to investigate the long-term recovery of benthic and fish communities following dredging of sand resources within Ship Shoal in the Gulf of Mexico. The objectives of this study are to examine the relationship of human disturbance to ecosystem services in offshore sand shoal habitats in the Ship Shoal borrow area and nearby control sites off Louisiana. Further, to determine if there are functional differences in control site and borrow sites (pre- and post-dredging) by examining species distribution, diversity, habitat use, population dynamics and rate of recovery of benthic habitats. If so, investigate if these differences correlate with biophysical differences (grain size, flow characteristics). Finally, determine if there are regional differences in recovery (Gulf of Mexico vs. Atlantic). Section 1346 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) mandates the conduct of environmental and socioeconomic studies needed for the assessment and management of environmental impacts on the human, marine, and coastal environments which may be affected by oil and gas or other mineral development.

The site for this project is located along the western edge of White Sands National Monument overlooking the Lake Lucero playa, within the deposits of Pleistocene Lake Otero. Numerous visits to the site have been made over the past few decades both as professional investigations and avocational tours. Yet, despite its great research potential, its spatial extent has not been completely documented, nor have all of its cultural features been fully recognized. During a recent visit to the site, a series of adobe room blocks were identified on the ground surface. Additionally, areas of extremely high artifact density indicated the presence of probable buried features such as pithouses, thermal features, trash middens and even human burials. A systematic survey of the Lake Lucero Site is urgently needed to enable White Sands National Monument to properly manage and protect the site. The cultural and temporal evaluations of these resources will be based on the associations of these resources with diagnostic artifacts (such as projectile points and ceramics), as viewed in their cultural and environmental contexts. For this project, the recipient will locate and record the site, assess site condition, and determine site significance. Correlating the temporal information with paleoenvironmental data, where available, might allow for an examination of long-term changes in the biotic communities. The collected data will be synthesized in a report with recommendations for the preservation of this site. The information gathered will form a baseline for future condition assessments of this site, further recommendations for site preservation and additional project planning.

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, coastal resiliency, and to meet the MMP and Gulf States¿ goal of a Gulf-wide Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) sediment inventory. The overall goal of this cooperative agreement is to work with Gulf States to recover legacy geological and geophysical data that will ultimately provide for development of an offshore sediment resources inventory. One of the primary objectives is to coordinate with all 5 Gulf States and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to develop a Gulf-Wide Sediment Inventory program for funding under a future opportunity such as the RESTORE Act Funded Priorities List. This funding is available to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). 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 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.