Federal Ocean Conservation Grants Will Impact South Coast

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) announced last week some $3 million worth of grants for various ocean-oriented state conservation projects, many of which will have impacts here on the South Coast. Specifically, BOEMRE—which is essentially the reimagined Minerals Management Service of the fed’s Department of the Interior—announced four Coastal Impact Assistance Program grants to help fund, among other things, the mapping of underwater topography and habitat along the coast of California and a series of sediment management plans for coastal regions throughout the state. The funding is made possible via offshore energy revenues collected annually by the United States.