(22/P019) TRENTON – As Earth Week is widely known this 12 months with the theme of Spend money on Our Planet, the Murphy Administration is launching a brand new blue and inexperienced carbon grant program that may make investments $15 million in initiatives throughout New Jersey that create, restore and improve salt marshes, sea grass beds, forests and city parks that sequester atmospheric carbon within the battle towards local weather change.

“Local weather change is the best long-term menace to New Jersey’s individuals, communities, and financial system,” stated Governor Phil Murphy. “This 12 months’s Earth Week theme of investing in our planet is reflective of our New Jersey values as we goal to set an instance for the nation. By way of our new Pure Local weather Answer Grant Program, New Jersey proudly turns into one of many first states to take a position proceeds from Regional Greenhouse Gasoline Initiative (RGGI) auctions into pure useful resource restoration and enhancement initiatives.”

“By way of investments in nature-based options, New Jersey can hold local weather pollution from getting into our environment whereas bettering the standard of our assets and beautifying our communities,” stated Commissioner of Environmental Safety Shawn M. LaTourette. “The local weather disaster is already harming our individuals, communities, and financial system and this new grant program will sequester carbon and assist to cut back the dangers of a altering local weather.”

The Murphy Administration is proud to supply native governments, educational establishments, nonprofits and others with this groundbreaking alternative to put money into our planet’s future by restoring and enhancing coastal, woodland and concrete ecosystems to cut back the greenhouse gases that trigger local weather change. The grant program is funded by public sale proceeds the state has obtained by RGGI, a collaboration of Mid-Atlantic and New England states that works to cut back carbon emissions from energy crops. States obtain public sale proceeds by this cap-and-trade program to fund quite a lot of initiatives that cut back emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to local weather change. New Jersey rejoined RGGI underneath Governor Murphy’s management in 2020.

“Pure options are essential as a result of they’ve the potential to take action far more than sequester carbon,” stated DEP Affiliate Commissioner for Science and Coverage Katrina Angarone. “Bushes planted in our city areas additionally assist cool our cities, clear our air, present habitat, cut back flooding and supply inexperienced areas in extremely urbanized areas. Restored tidal wetlands present essential wildlife and fisheries habitat and can enhance the resilience of our coastal areas. These initiatives have the potential to be a win a number of instances over for communities on the entrance line of local weather change.”

“Bushes and wetlands function glorious carbon sinks, frequently taking carbon out of the environment and storing it in biomass and soils,” stated John Cecil, DEP’s Assistant Commissioner for State Parks, Forests & Historic Websites. “Though New Jersey is probably the most densely populated state, there are an abundance of wetlands and forests offering important providers to individuals and nature. The Pure Local weather Options Grant Program affords a major alternative to revive, improve and even create these pure property in order that they will help us.”

Undertaking grant awards will vary from $250,000 to $5 million. Functions can be accepted by July 13. Candidates for blue and inexperienced carbon grants ought to exhibit that the initiatives will cut back greenhouse gasoline emissions by rising carbon storage capability in biomass (i.e., timber and crops) and soils, will cut back methane and nitrous oxide emissions brought on by rising salinity of coastal waters or altering land use, and can cut back carbon dioxide emissions by stopping soil loss.

Entities that will apply are:

• State, county and native authorities models inside New Jersey, together with state authorities companies and college boards
• State universities and schools
• Interstate companies of which New Jersey is a member
• Personal landowners proudly owning property in New Jersey (notice: non-public property venture candidates should present matching funds)
• Native nonprofit organizations

Eligible initiatives embrace people who:

• Stop erosion of carbon wealthy soils in littoral (nearshore zones) of the state, together with tidal wetlands
• Restore tidal flows to salt marshes, with a deal with rising salinity to lower manufacturing of methane, a robust greenhouse gasoline
• Enhance the duvet of native salt marsh vegetation in brackish and salt water tidal wetlands to sequester carbon. 
• Restore degraded forests or former agricultural areas with resilient native vegetation
• Set up and keep timber in city areas whereas lowering impervious cowl and selling floor water recharge

The DEP will award extra software overview factors to initiatives in Overburdened Communities which have borne a disproportionate share of environmental inequities over time.

Grant recipients can be required to doc and report data relying on the kind of venture that’s applied. This data might embrace however shouldn’t be restricted to venture space maps, land use, salinity, erosion fee, plant species, acres of vegetated marsh, acres of sub-aquatic vegetation, tree diameter and tree top.

The DEP will maintain a public data session from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Could 19. To be taught extra in regards to the Pure Local weather Options Grant Program and to register for the knowledge session, go to https://nj.gov/dep/climatechange/mitigation/ncs-grant.html

Observe Commissioner LaTourette on Twitter and Instagram @shawnlatur and observe the DEP on Twitter @NewJerseyDEP, Fb @newjerseydep, Instagram @nj.dep and LinkedIn @newjerseydep