News Releases from Region 01

EPA Providing More Than $124,000 to New Hampshire for Wetlands Projects

CONCORD, N.H. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced $124,400 in grants to the state of New Hampshire for state-led programs and projects that will protect, manage and restore wetlands across the state. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services received $124,400 in grants, and EPA expects to award a second round of these grants in the same amount later this year.

The funds were provided through EPA's Wetland Program Development Grant program, which enables state, local and tribal governments to conduct a range of projects that promote research and pollution reduction efforts related to wetlands. In 2019, EPA awarded $1,323,000 in Wetland Program Development Grant funds across the six New England states.

"Wetlands provide a range of important benefits to ecosystems and local communities across New England, including critical habitat for various species of wildlife and natural buffers against flooding," said EPA New England Regional Administrator Dennis Deziel. "These grants exemplify EPA's commitment to helping our state and local partners further their wetlands research and protection programs that will have lasting impacts for decades to come."

Bob Scott, Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services said, "These EPA funds will allow NHDES to provide important training on wetlands functional assessment, and they will facilitate NHDES ensuring consistency and tracking of wetlands impacts and mitigation as affected by the wetlands permitting process."

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services grant will fund work to advance education efforts, wetland assessments, and data systems to increase the protection and enhancement of New Hampshire's aquatic resources. This project is intended to develop new internal protocols for permit reviewers for tracking and reporting wetland and stream impacts; develop a data management system and perform a comprehensive geospatial analysis to evaluate the ecological performance of mitigation sites; and resurvey wetlands of high ecological value with outdated records to verify the condition of these priority wetlands.

For more information on the Wetland Program Development Grants, visit: https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/wetlands/wetland-program-development-grants-and-epa-wetlands-grant-coordinators.