TRENTON — The Murphy Administration will make an additional $10 million available for the Resilient NJ program to provide grants to groups of municipalities that develop plans to make their communities more resilient to climate effects, Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette said last week.
The Resilient NJ program, administered through DEP’s Office of Climate Resilience, will use this round of funding to provide grants of as much as $300,000 to municipalities that join with others to establish self-identified regions, and then work to develop regional Resilience Action Plans.
Grant applications are due Oct. 14. A public webinar on the grant program is planned for early September.
“Municipalities across all 21 counties face unique climate challenges, including coastal and riverine flooding, wildfires and extreme temperatures that extend beyond municipal borders,” LaTourette said. “I encourage local leaders to take advantage of this opportunity for regional collaboration to advance actions that will make our communities more resilient to climate change.”
Resilience Action Plans are crafted to increase resilience, build local capacity and allow local governments to address their unique needs.
The plans also give municipalities an opportunity to identify and implement innovative regional solutions to address climate change-related risks, while enhancing the value and integrity of ecological, economic, recreational and natural resources in their communities.
Funding background
The $10 million is made available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of the Building a Climate Ready NJ initiative and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
“The Resilient NJ program has supported resilience planning in over 40 municipalities to date. The Resilience Action Plans produced through those efforts have resulted in over $26 million in additional implementation projects, demonstrating the value of the program,” said Nick Angarone, New Jersey’s Chief Resilience Officer. “We look forward to expanding the reach of the Resilient NJ program and providing assistance to as many communities as possible.”
As many as six regional teams will receive grants of as much as $300,000 each to improve climate resilience in their communities. Teams will self-select their member municipalities and may cross county borders.
DEP will match the selected regions with experienced consulting teams and provide oversight of the program.
Regional teams must be made up of at least three contiguous municipalities and at least one community-based organization. County governments, regional planning commissions and utilities authorities are also eligible to participate.
Building resilience
The selected regional teams will be paired with multidisciplinary consulting teams of planners, engineers, ecologists, designers and other experts to participate in a comprehensive planning process to develop regional Resilience Action Plans and ultimately implement selected actions from those plans. Consultant teams will be provided a budget separate from the awarded regional team grants.
Selected regional teams will be notified by Friday, Nov. 21. Visit resilient.nj.gov for more information and application materials.
A public webinar to learn more about the grant program is scheduled for 2 to 3 p.m. Sept. 3.
Later this year, a Request for Proposals will be released to choose the consulting teams that will partner with the winning regional teams. Each regional team and its consulting team will assess current and future climate hazard vulnerabilities; identify specific actions to reduce hazard risk; evaluate those options using a detailed cost-benefit analysis; develop Resilience Action Plans; and support the regions with planning action implementation.
Once all regions and consulting teams have been selected and matched, projects may kick off in the early part of 2026.
