A Preliminary Analysis of Select Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act Grant-funded Awards
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) represent transformational investments, including about $6.3 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to stimulate economic development, reduce climate risk, and protect and restore habitat.
To begin to understand the value of this funding—and to inform future policy and grant-making decisions—NOAA evaluated eight coastal resilience and conservation funding opportunities in the National Ocean Service and NOAA Fisheries. In 2022 and 2023 NOAA made 173 awards representing $717 million in federal support, mostly from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Because these awards are in the early stages of implementation, our methods focused on estimating the value of what we are calling the “3Es” from available grant award information:
The estimated economic impact of these awards in coastal communities, the Great Lakes, and U.S. territories;
A preliminary analysis of the extent of equitable engagement and potential benefits flowing to underserved, Tribal, and Indigenous communities; and
The expected ecosystem services benefits of habitat improvements.
As the maps and analysis below illustrate and quantify, these investments reach across coastal communities, the Great Lakes and U.S. territories and are expected to grow economies, create jobs, improve valuable habitat, and reduce climate risk for underserved communities, Tribes, and Indigenous communities.
Summary
The awards are estimated to return enormous benefits to protect coastal communities and restore marine resources—with about 2.4 times the total economic output created for every federal dollar spent—in addition to almost 14 jobs created for every million dollars spent. In the long term, these investments will create healthier ecosystems that will reap sustainable dividends for years to come, help reduce climate risk, and build resilience in underserved, Tribal, and Indigenous communities.
Economic Impact
Estimated changes to economic growth and job creation that these historic investments will bring to the areas where project activity is occurring.
Climate resilience awards supported through the eight funding opportunities are expected to stimulate significant economic activity across coastal America, including the Great Lakes and U.S. territories. Using input output modeling, we estimated the value that these investments will have on the flow of economic activity and jobs in the economies around the award sites.
Equitable Engagement and Expected Benefits
How these projects are anticipated to engage and provide benefits to underserved, Tribal, and Indigenous communities.
Our preliminary analysis shows that the Administration’s equity and environmental justice objectives are expected to be advanced with 59% of projects planning on engaging Tribal or Indigenous communities. Half of the awards are committed to protecting, restoring, or enhancing culturally and economically significant ecosystems—and over 40% provide important resilience benefits to vulnerable populations, such as weather and climate risk reduction activities.
Ecosystem Services Benefits
The habitats being targeted by these awards will improve their functioning, resulting in ecosystem services that are valued by society. Coral reefs, mangroves, salt marshes, and dunes provide protection to homes and businesses along the shore. Beaches provide a space for recreation. Wetlands provide a nursery for fish species to grow before migrating to ocean waters, supporting recreational and commercial fisheries. These and other benefits are distributed across the habitats covered by the awards. Using economic valuation methods, we estimated the value that society would place on the expected outcomes in the awards.