|
Fiscal Year 2024 Proposal Evaluations
The REPI Office is excited to have received 76 REPI proposals submitted by the Military Services for their Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 REPI Projects. These projects are requesting $245 million in REPI Program funding to safeguard critical installation missions for the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Army alike. The FY 2024 proposals aim to protect, manage, or improve over 407,000 acres and are planning to leverage over $274 million in partner funds. The REPI Office will evaluate project proposals through November and begin working with the Military Services in December to finalize project funding amounts. Questions regarding the annual REPI proposals can be directed to the REPI Program at osd.repi@mail.mil or by visiting www.repi.mil.
Join the REPI Project Insights Across Regional Partnerships Webinar
Join the REPI Program on Wednesday, November 8, from 1:00-2:00 PM Eastern Time, for the REPI Project Insights Across Regional Partnerships webinar to learn how the REPI Program leverages regional partnerships with federal, state, and local agencies to access funding and resources to protect military missions. During this webinar, participants will hear from regional experts highlighting partnerships in the Southeast, Southwest, and Pacific, which foster collaboration amongst diverse partners to enhance military readiness, protect vital habitats and natural resources, and promote sustainable land uses.
Newly Released: 2022 Metrics Report on REPI Program Outcomes and Benefits to Military Mission Capabilities
The REPI Program is pleased to announce the release of the 2022 Report on REPI Program Outcomes and Benefits to Military Mission Capabilities. This report examines REPI program data submitted by the Military Services from FY 2003 through FY 2022 and quantitatively demonstrates the benefits of REPI projects that help safeguard military training, testing, and operations. Over 20 years of data analysis reveals that lands near installations and training areas, including installations in the Pacific region, are increasingly at risk of encroachment pressures threatening the Department's ability to conduct realistic training and testing vital to preparing for real-world combat. Through REPI projects, the Military Departments have a cost-effective solution for protecting vital training areas surrounding installations that allow for uninterrupted flight operations, testing, and radar and navigation activities. Since FY 2003, DOD's REPI Program has secured $1.24 billion with over $1.13 billion in non-Department partner contributions to protect over 1.18 million acres of land at 120 locations across 35 states and territories to preserve key operational assets, infrastructure, and capabilities. In FY 2022 alone, REPI projects expended $13 million in REPI funding to preserve lands with active climate change threats. Of this $13 million, $10 million went toward wildfire mitigation activities and efforts designed to reduce installation risk to wildfires.
|
|
Federal Emergency Management Agency Announces Grant Program Funding Opportunities
On October 12, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published the FY 2023 Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) grant programs. For FY 2023, FEMA will distribute up to $1 billion for the BRIC Program and up to $800 million for the FMA Program. As part of the BRIC Program, FEMA will provide non-financial support, including climate risk assessments, community engagement, partnership building, and mitigation and climate adaptation planning, to at least 80 communities through Direct Technical Assistance. Applications for BRIC and FMA are due by February 29, 2024.
Interested applicants can learn more about this year's funding cycle in FEMA's NOFO fact sheets: BRIC NOFO Fact Sheet and FMA NOFO Fact Sheet.
|
Deadline Extended: WaterSMART Cooperative Watershed Management Program
On August 7, the Bureau of Reclamation published the WaterSMART Drought Response Program's Drought Resiliency Projects NOFO for Fiscal Year 2024. The Bureau of Reclamation's Drought Response Program supports a proactive approach to drought by assisting water managers to develop and update comprehensive drought plans and implement projects that will build long-term resiliency to drought. The original deadline has been extended, and applications are now due November 7, 2023.
|
|
REPI and the FEMA Partner Site Visit
Representatives from DOD, FEMA, Sentinel Landscapes, and local conservation organizations gathered at Onslow Beach to learn about the Marine Corps' mission, threats from extreme weather events, and damage from previous storms.
The REPI Office has partnered with FEMA for nearly three years to promote greater inter-agency collaboration on climate resilience projects. In March 2023, FEMA published an updated Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program and Policy Guide that recognizes the REPI Program as one of the federal programs that can satisfy the non-federal cost-sharing requirements for all the Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants. To explore opportunities to leverage this unique authority, the REPI Office and Marine Corps hosted a site visit at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, from October 11-12, 2023. During this site visit, representatives from the Marine Corps, DOD, FEMA, and local conservation organizations discussed the training missions at MCB Camp Lejeune and threats from sea level rise, extreme weather events, and inland flooding. The site visit also included discussions on the installation's participation in the Eastern North Carolina Sentinel Landscape and how the landscape helps advance installation resilience projects across the 33-county region. The Marine Corps, Onslow County, REPI, and FEMA walked away from the site visit with enhanced knowledge of FEMA grant timelines, future project opportunities, and shared enthusiasm toward the REPI and FEMA partnership.
Defenders of Wildlife Launches New Website for Land Trusts to Identify Federal Resources for Habitat Conservation
Defenders of Wildlife's private lands team launched a first-of-its-kind online tool called the WALT: Wildlife and Land Trusts, which allows land trusts to match their unique wildlife conservation needs with federal assistance programs. The WALT: Wildlife and Land Trusts, is a one-stop-shop for helping land trust staff understand the programs, find the right fit for their land trust's goals, and get contact information for the appropriate federal staff. The federal government offers many programs that can provide financial and technical resources to land trusts to conserve wildlife on the land they steward. Navigating the programs, however, can be challenging as they vary widely in terms of requirements, assistance type and amount, and application and implementation process. Federal agencies featured in the tool include the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA Farm Service Agency, US Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Department of Defense.
To explore this new innovative online tool, visit https://defenders-cci.org/publication/walt/.
2023 Climate Adaptation Leadership Award Announcement
The REPI Program is thrilled to join the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) in celebrating their receipt of the 2023 Climate Adaptation Leadership Award for Natural Resources from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies! Due to the unwavering commitment to conservation and to improving conservation, the economy, quality of life, resilience, and military readiness, SERPPAS was recognized in the "Broad Partnership" category for demonstrating exemplary leadership in reducing climate-related threats and promoting adaptation of the Nation's natural resources. The Climate Adaptation Leadership Awards celebrate outstanding efforts to increase the resilience of the United States' valuable living natural resources and help sustain the many people, communities, and businesses that depend on them. SERPPAS has been recognized for demonstrating exemplary leadership in reducing climate-related threats and promoting adaptation of the Nation's natural resources.
To learn more about the Climate Adaptation Awards for Natural Resources, please visit www.fishwildlife.org/afwa-inspires/climate-adaptation-network/climate-adaptation-leadership-awards.
Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation Announces Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot Awards
On September 22, the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) announced awards for the 2023 Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot (DCIP) Program. This year, OLDCC will award approximately $100 million to 17 grants. These 17 projects are leveraging an additional $39.2 million in non-federal and other federal funding for a total investment of $138.9 million. You will find a list of the projects below, nine of which have existing REPI projects.
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson: $10.86 million | Sierra Army Depot: $8.96 million | Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island: $5.98 million | Naval Air Station Pensacola and Naval Air Station Whiting Field: $4.95 million | Naval Air Station Whiting Field: $6.44 million | Moody Air Force Base: $861,000 | Pōhakuloa Training Area: $6.89 million | Naval Station Everett - Acoustic Research Detachment, Bayview: $900,000 | Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Johnson: $4.93 million | Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans: $5.79 million | Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans: $13.73 million | Selfridge Air National Guard Base: $1.09 million | New Boston Space Force Station: $9.29 million | Youngstown Air Reserve Station: $8.03 million | Texas Army National Guard Martindale Army Heliport: $643,300 | Naval Station Norfolk: $2.37 million |Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story $8.01 million
While Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations and authorization are not yet finalized by Congress, eligible applicants are encouraged to start drafting their proposals for the DCIP Program now. To learn more about eligibility and requirements, visit www.oldcc.gov/defense-community-infrastructure-program-dcip.
REPI News Roundup
Below is media coverage featuring REPI Program partnerships that serve as an innovative way to address land use and resource challenges that threaten military readiness while enhancing relationships with communities and preserving the environment.
|
|
 Military Readiness via the Army's Compatible Use Buffer Program
The Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation (WBWF) is collaborating with landowners, the Army National Guard, and other environmental organizations to protect Fort Barfoot in Virginia and Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania through the Army’s Compatible Use Buffer (ACUB) program. The Army needs bases and training lands for military exercises, training, soldier skill testing, and other operations. Training restrictions, costly workarounds, and compromised training realism can result from incompatible development surrounding the installation and from threatened and endangered species on the installation. Title 10, Section 2684a of the United States Code authorizes DOD to form agreements with organizations like the WBWF to limit encroachments and other constraints on military training, testing, and operations by establishing buffers around installations. The ACUB program allows these installations to work with the WBWF to encumber off-post land to protect habitat and buffer training without acquiring any new land for Army ownership. This partnership preserves high-value habitat and limits incompatible development in the vicinity of military installations. Establishing buffer areas around Army installations limits the effects of encroachment and maximizes land inside the installation that can be used to support the installation's mission.
|
Marine Corps Base Hawai'i and the Community Work Together to Combat Invasive Species
The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) reported that representatives from Marine Corps Base Hawaii's Environmental Compliance and Protection Division and the REPI Program gathered alongside elected officials and local leaders during a town hall to address mutual concerns regarding the impact of invasive species on the Windward side of Oahu. The REPI Program is a vital component of the Marine Corps’ holistic encroachment mitigation strategy that can be used to combat detrimental impacts of invasive species and other environmental conditions that threaten MCBH’s ability to perform mission requirements that are critical for national defense. This unique partnership program supports cost-sharing agreements between the Department of Defense, Marine Corps, state and local government, and private conservation organizations. The REPI Program seeks to implement as many projects as possible, extending our resources to community partners and collaborating on shared natural resource challenges that can negatively impact the community or operational readiness.
|
|
|
|
|
