Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Cooperative Agreement, Long-term Strategy

Purpose

This document provides a Long-term Strategy for 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58)/ Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) grant funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to support implementation of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) for the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership (APNEP) for 2022-2027. The document incorporates the approved 2022-2024 Work Plan (10/6/2023) for the timeframe of October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2024, though funds were not awarded until February 2023.

This Strategy serves as the initial overall narrative for the associated cooperative agreement for the funding cycle. APNEP anticipates requesting grant funds under BIL in June each year per guidance from the EPA as detailed by a July 26, 2022, NEP BIL Funding Implementation Memorandum from EPA Assistant Administrator, Radhika Fox. EPA guidance states that the BIL long-term strategy may have less detail than the annual workplans, and may be amended, modified, or revised at any time.

Cooperative Agreement (4T-02D41823)

Actions described within this Long-term Strategy will occur under EPA/North Carolina-Department of Environmental Quality (NC-DEQ) Cooperative Agreement 4T-02D41823 to support implementation of the management strategies recommended in APNEP’s CCMP under the direction of the Leadership Council, as well as to support APNEP’s mission of identifying, protecting, and restoring the significant resources of the Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine system. The period of performance under this Cooperative Agreement is expected to run from October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2027.