North Carolina Construction News staff writer
The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) has announced a groundbreaking $421 million grant award from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program.
This historic funding is set to drive extensive carbon-reducing natural land conservation and restoration projects, preserving over 200,000 acres of coastal habitats, forests, and farmland across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.
Impact on construction and infrastructure:
- funding for numerous “shovel-ready” projects, each receiving $50 million. These projects are expected to include the following:
- Restoration of over 600 acres of coastal habitats
- Building living shorelines to prevent erosion and protect infrastructure
- Reforesting over 55,000 acres to improve air quality and mitigate stormwater runoff
- Urban tree planting, enhancing green spaces in city landscapes
- Farmland preservation, ensuring sustainable land use practices
The “Atlantic Conservation Coalition,” partnering with The Nature Conservancy, will focus on conserving and restoring vital peatland wetlands, coastal habitats, and forests. The coalition has identified 21 high-value projects designed to significantly reduce carbon emissions, enhance regional resilience to natural hazards, and protect crucial natural lands from development and pollution. These efforts are also aimed at benefiting underserved local communities.
projects funded by this grant are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 28 million metric tons of CO2e by 2050. These initiatives include salt marsh restoration, outdoor recreation land conservation, living shoreline construction, cost-assistance to small forest landowners, urban tree planting, and reforestation.
