CZM Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants

CZM Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants is sponsored by Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM). CZM Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants is a grant from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) that funds projects assessing and treating stormwater pollution, restoring coastal habitat, and advancing comprehensive coastal restoration planning.

* This page, Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants, is offered by * Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) * EEA Office of Grants and Technical Assistance The Coastal Habitat and Water Quality (CHWQ) Grants provide financial resources for projects that assess and treat stormwater pollution and advance habitat restoration and comprehensive restoration planning.

Municipalities within theMassachusetts coastal watershed are eligible to apply, along with federally recognized Tribes, certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, regional planning agencies, and stormwater collaboratives in partnership with eligible municipalities. The former Coastal Pollutant Remediation (CPR) Grants have been merged into the CHWQ Grants.

* Eligibility and Project Types * Application Timeline and Process * What projects have been funded? * Who can help me apply for a CHWQ Grant? _**NEW:**_ The Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Environment and Climate One Stop (ECO One Stop) application Request for Responses (RFR), which included the Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants, closed on March 27, 2026.

## Eligibility and Project Types The Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants are open to municipalities within the Massachusetts coastal watershed, along with federally recognized Tribes, certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, regional governments or regional planning agencies, and stormwater collaboratives when in partnership with eligible municipalities.

Projects eligible for CHWQ funding should advance one or more of the following project categories. _(Note: For these CHWQ project categories, the ECO One Stop Project Types that must be selected in the ECO One Stop application are given in italics.)

_ * **Assessment, identification, and characterization of stormwater nonpoint source pollution (NPS) impacts** to eligible waterbodies within the Massachusetts coastal watershed, specifically surface stormwater discharges, and prioritization of sites for remediation.

_ECO One Stop Project Type: “Stormwater Management (e.g. green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, structural Best Management Practices)”_ * **Design, permitting, implementation, and/or retrofits of structural stormwater best management practices (BMPs)** to remediate surface stormwater runoff from paved or unpaved roads, bridges, and municipal parking lots that address contaminants of concern impairing water quality in receiving waters.

_ECO One Stop Project Type: “Stormwater Management (e.g. green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, structural Best Management Practices)”_ * **Capacity-building activities to support implementation of green stormwater infrastructure** (methods that replicate natural processes to trap and filter stormwater prior to reaching local waterbodies), including trainings for municipal staff, bylaw review and development, and case studies.

_ECO One Stop Project Type: “Stormwater Management (e.g. green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, structural Best Management Practices)” or “Regulatory Updates”_ * **Comprehensive habitat restoration planning**, including evaluation and assessment of stressors to habitats, identification of effective and feasible alternatives to support restoration, and development of comprehensive habitat restoration plans to detail findings and recommendations of concrete, short- and long-term actions for the restoration of coastal habitat within the selected project area.

Projects with previously completed planning efforts and/or pre-identified priority restoration actions will not be competitive for this project category.

_ECO One Stop Project Type: “Land Use Planning” or “Wetland Restoration and Enhancement”_ * **Advancement of priority land acquisition planning activities**, including conducting planning for and evaluation of potential lands for future acquisition for the purposes of restoration, buffer protection, and/or future marsh migration, as identified in an approved comprehensive habitat restoration plan completed under a previous CHWQ Grants project.

_ECO One Stop Project Type: “Land Acquisition” or “Wetland Restoration and Enhancement”_ * **Data collection and engineering to support future implementation of crossing infrastructure improvements or retrofits for habitat restoration**, including advancing data collection, assessments, and engineering designs related to a future improvement and/or retrofit of municipally owned crossing infrastructure for priority restoration actions.

_ECO One Stop Project Type: “Culvert or Small Bridge Upgrade or Removal” or “Wetland Restoration and Enhancement”_ To be competitive, applications should also describe past or planned public outreach, supporting meaningful participation and engagement in the development or implementation of project activities to increase participatory decision making in the categories above.

## Application Timeline and Process Starting in FY 2027, CHWQ Grants were included in the ECO One Stop application, a new streamlined grant application for climate and environmental resilience projects in Massachusetts. The FY 2027 ECO One Stop RFR, closed on March 27, 2026. To discuss future projects, please reach out to the contacts below.

CZM can help potential applicants develop project ideas up until the RFR for the grant year is released. Applicants are strongly encouraged to review these resources to inform a proposal to the Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants as applicable. * Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management Grant Viewer - The Grant Viewer provides examples of projects funded by CZM from 2014 to present.

Projects listed include those from the Coastal Pollutant Remediation Grant (CPR) Program (formerly available), Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grant (CHWQ), and Coastal Resilience Grant Program. * EEA Climate Grant Viewer - This viewer shows Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Planning and Action grants, as well as other grant programs offered through EEA that work to build local resilience.

To find climate vulnerability assessments, select the MVP Grant Program section of the viewer, choose the Planning Grants tab, and then click on a community to open a pop-up box with a link to “More info. ” * Massachusetts Ocean Resource Information System (MORIS) - CZM's official data portal allows users to create customized maps with a variety of data layers related to the Massachusetts coastal zone and nearshore ocean.

Data layers include the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) Integrated List of Waters, diadromous fish, Massachusetts Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model, and many more.

* **Climate Change Impacts to Coastal Stormwater BMPs**- Stormwater BMPs in coastal areas are subject to flooding, storm damage, and salt and wind exposure—impacts that are exacerbated by sea level rise, higher groundwater levels, and increased frequency and intensity of storm and precipitation events due to climate change.

In 2015, CZM and MassDEP contracted Horsley Witten Group, Inc., (with support from the Woods Hole Group) to assess potential impacts to coastal BMPs due to climate change, evaluate existing coastal BMPs, and develop a set of recommendations for coastal communities.

_Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Stormwater BMPs and Recommended BMP Design Considerations in Coastal Communities_provides results of this project and is intended to help municipalities address the unique challenges of siting, designing, and constructing BMPs on the coast.

* **Operation, Maintenance, and Performance Evaluation** - In 2005, CZM contracted with the Horsley Witten Group, Inc., to conduct field inspections of stormwater BMPs. They evaluated the maintenance history and condition of each installed BMP and made an overall assessment of its functionality.

_Coastal Pollutant Remediation Program Stormwater BMP Operation, Maintenance, and Performance Evaluation_(PDF, 390 KB) is a summary report that details the findings of these inspections and includes a set of recommendations for improving maintenance, construction, and design of stormwater BMPs. Applicants for CHWQ Grants for stormwater remediation projects must review and incorporate these recommendations as applicable.

## What projects have been funded? ## Who can help me apply for a CHWQ Grant? CZM can help potential applicants develop project ideas up until the RFR for the grant year is released.

Please contact the following CZM staff and Regional Coordinators with any questions: ### Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management * Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Manager * adrienne. pappal@mass. gov * Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Specialist * Kathleen.

Mason@mass. gov * Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Specialist * alexis. neffinger@mass.

gov * North Shore Regional Coordinator * Boston Harbor Regional Coordinator * joanna. m. yelen@mass.

gov * South Shore Regional Coordinator * Cape Cod & Islands Regional Coordinator * stephen. mckenna@mass. gov * South Coastal Regional Coordinator In addition to providing assistance with developing project ideas, the Massachusetts Bays and Buzzards Bay National Estuary Programs can also help applicants with grant applications.

### Massachusetts Bays and Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program Contacts * Merrimack Valley Planning Commission * Phone: (978) 374-0519 x16 * Northeastern University Marine Science Center * di. chin@northeastern. edu * North and South Rivers Watershed Association * Phone: (781) 659-8168 x103 * Association to Preserve Cape Cod * Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program * sarah.

williams@mass. gov For more information about the CHWQ Grant Program, contact: * Adrienne Pappal atadrienne. pappal@mass.

govor (617) 890-9116 * Kathleen Mason at kathleen. mason@mass. gov or (617)-890-9493 * Lexie Neffinger atalexis.

neffinger@mass. govor (617) 890-9119 * CZM Coastal Water Quality Program * CZM Coastal Habitat Program * Stormwater Solutions for Homeowners Fact Sheets ## Help Us Improve Mass. gov with your feedback