Long Island Sound Study funding to implement the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) has increased since 2016, reaching $62.8 million in 2023. The increased funding has resulted in more projects on the ground, improving the health of Long Island Sound. Each year, the LISS Management Conference develops a work plan to implement projects for the CCMP based on appropriations approved by Congress. The work plan budget shows how the funding is distributed to LISS partners as grants to be used for ongoing projects and programs, including the Long Island Sound Futures Fund, the Long Island Sound Bioextraction Initiative, the Long Island Sound Water Quality Monitoring Program, and the Long Island Sound Study Research Grant Program.
The Long Island Sound Study is established under Sections 320 and 119 of the federal Clean Water Act, which also authorizes funding for the program through EPA. The LISS receives funding under these authorizations.
In 2023, the LISS received $40,002,000 under section 119 of the Clean Water Act as an EPA Geographic Program. EPA administers 12 Geographic Programs, which are long-standing, geographic specific programs that help protect local ecosystems and communities from climate change, habitat loss and pollution.
In 2023, the LISS received $850,000 under section 320 of the Clean Water Act through the National Estuary Program. The National Estuary Program (NEP) is an EPA place-based program to protect and restore the water quality and ecological integrity of estuaries of national significance. Currently, 28 estuaries located along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts and in Puerto Rico are designated as estuaries of national significance.
On November 6, 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-58) (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law or BIL), to enhance the nation’s infrastructure and resilience. The BIL funds, for the first year (2022) of a five-year period, include $909,800 in NEP allocations under section 32o of the Clean Water Act, and $21,000,000 under section 119 of the Clean Water Act. In total, the LISS will be receiving $106,000,000 under section 119 for a five-year period (FY 2022-2026). LISS also has developed an Equity Strategy that was approved by EPA’s Office of Water which allows for the continuation of match waivers for the entire five years of BIL funds.
Learn more about the BIL Funding program and the BIL Equity Strategy here.
Grant recipients under the Geographic Program appropriation must meet matching fund requirements—40 percent for implementation projects and five percent for education and outreach projects. For example, a $60,000 grant requires $40,000 in matching funds. Grant recipients under the National Estuary Program authorization must meet match requirements of 50 percent for all projects. In 2023 grant recipients provided $22,075,423 in matching funds. Through the BIL initiative, the LISS has developed an Equity Strategy which allows for match waivers.
In addition to matching fund requirements the states and municipalities provide additional funds for projects to implement the Long Island Sound Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, including upgrades to wastewater treatment plants.
For example for every federal dollar appropriated to the program from 2020 to 2021 {change to 2023}, LISS partners leveraged an additional $8 {change to 2023} to implement projects, more than $447 million in total {change to 2023}, demonstrating a great return on investment and reflecting the broader regional commitment to restore and protect the Sound.
The LISS budget is organized into the nine Program Activities and three BIL Activities outlined below; the FY2023 LISS budget breakdown by Program Activity is: