F24AS00062 National Fish Passage Program Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Restoring River, Floodplain, and Coastal Connectivity and Resiliency
The USFWS offers funding via the National Fish Passage Program to restore river, floodplain, and coastal connectivity, prioritizing projects benefiting native species and disadvantaged communities.
This grant is no longer accepting proposals
Fish and Wildlife Service has archived this opportunity.
Funder: [Fish and Wildlife Service - https://www.fws.gov]
Due Dates: December 31, 2024 (FY24 invited applications) | September 30, 2025 (FY25 invited applications)
Funding Amounts: Up to $72 million total available if FY24 and FY25 funds combined; individual awards range from $250,000 to $10,000,000.
Summary: Provides funding to restore river, floodplain, and coastal aquatic connectivity and resiliency, prioritizing native species recovery and disadvantaged communities.
Key Information: Applicants must coordinate with regional NFPP staff and submit a Letter of Interest before invitation to apply; priority given to projects with clear on-the-ground implementation plans within 1-4 years.
Description
This funding opportunity, supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021), allocates up to $200 million over FY 2022-2026 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Fish Passage Program (NFPP). The program aims to restore aquatic organism passage and climate-resilient connectivity in rivers, floodplains, and coastal habitats to benefit federal trust resources, native fish populations, and ecosystem resiliency.
Projects funded under this program focus on removing instream barriers such as dams and culverts, restoring floodplains, breaching dikes, and reconnecting tidal habitats. The NFPP supports a variety of activities including project planning, engineering design, permitting, on-the-ground restoration, monitoring, outreach, and project management.
The program emphasizes rebuilding sustainable fisheries, conserving aquatic trust species, enhancing watershed health, promoting resilient ecosystems and communities (especially disadvantaged communities), and improving economic vitality including local employment. It also supports infrastructure modernization (e.g., road culverts, bridges) to enhance community resilience to climate change and public safety hazards.
Applicants must work closely with the Fish and Aquatic Conservation (FAC) Program staff in their region to align projects with regional priorities and ensure scientific and technical soundness. The NFPP prioritizes projects that maximize benefits to native species and habitats, provide sustainable fish passage, leverage regional or watershed restoration priorities, enhance community resilience, engage tribes and states, benefit disadvantaged communities, and have strong local support.
