(Dec. 19, 2019) Aiming to simplify the qualification process for environmental project funding, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources last year instituted its Chesapeake and Coastal Grants Gateway one-stop online application portal.
Gabe Cohee, director for the Center for Restoration Finance at Chesapeake and Coastal Service said DNR officials recognized that solicitations for funding required vetting through multiple channels.
“We were working with the same local governments and the same nonprofit organizations that were seeking these funds,” he said.
Cohee said the grants gateway online portal is open for the second year and would be accepting solicitations until Feb. 14.
“We just decided it would be better if we put out one single solicitation and tried to pull in projects that way. Whether we’re talking about resiliency, water quality, planning, zoning ordinances, sea level rise [or] things that the locals are dealing with,” Cohee said.
Cohee said his agency, which operates under DNR, manages federal funding through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“We have a lot of state funding … for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, which is water quality-driven,” he said. “We have some capital funding to do resiliency projects that we’re using natural infrastructure to protect critical natural features.”
In large part, the involved projects tended to focus on results rather than a specific funding approach.
“It allows us to do a more comprehensive review of all these projects,” he said.
Cohee said by examining project details, his agency could provide advice on which sources of money might be appropriate.
“In the end, we get better comprehensive programs on the ground and it reduces some of that burden on the locals,” he said.
Without expounding on climate change, Cohee said residents in coastal communities have seen increased storms in recent years.
“Coastal communities are realizing that high tides are a little higher,” he said. “There are king tides that are even bigger than old king tides.”
Flooding dangers have also increased in waterfront communities.
“So there just seems to be more water to deal with,” he said.
Cohee said to address these mounting challenges, the agency is pursuing projects that employ natural shorelines and wetlands as part of the solution.
“We want to build natural features … to help slow that water down and keep it in place, so that residents and locals aren’t dealing with that water in their basements and yards,” he said.
Also considered in the process, Cohee said, is the financial impact these higher tides and stronger storms have on coastal areas.
“Not only for tourism, but for our fisheries communities and recreational economies,” he said. “It’s really critical that we think about how these impacts will affect those kind of economies.”
While the impact of sea level rise over the next several decades is subject to conjecture, Cohee said taking action now is vital to maintaining life on the coast.
“Right now, we like the way of life that we have, and we enjoy these coastal communities,” he said. “We have to do what we can to ensure that they are sustainable for whatever the future has for us.”

Maryland Department of Natural Resources has simplified the application process to apply for environmental project funding through its Chesapeake and Coastal Grants Gateway one-stop online application portal.