Christie Administration Announces $1.2 Million in Competitive Grants to Support Statewide and Regional Resiliency Planning Initiatives

Grants for Non-Profits, Universities and Colleges to Support Applied Research Initiatives

Trenton, NJ – October 6, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — The Christie Administration today announced the launch of the $1.2 million Statewide and Regional Planning Assistance Grant Program to provide funding to non-profit organizations, universities or colleges to support the demonstration of research projects that can be applied to regional or statewide Sandy recovery resiliency planning.

“A lot of innovative research is occurring that can be leveraged to mitigate on a regional or statewide level the impact of future natural disasters,” said Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Charles Richman. “This grant provides an excellent opportunity for research and academic institutions to use their research to help communities be safe from future disasters. We are looking for innovative thinking.”

Starting today, DCA’s Office of Local Planning Services (LPS) will consider proposals whose results or products can be applied to pre-disaster planning and recovery-related actions with the potential to benefit a defined region, regions or the entire state.

The Program will address resiliency from any aspect: social, economic, environmental and/or infrastructure resiliency, as long as the design shows strong potential to have a demonstrable impact on public decision making, recovery and long-term resilience. The Program is intended to increase engagement and collaboration at a regional level while strengthening resilience.

All applicants are required to participate in a mandatory webinar information session from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on October 13, 2015 to learn about the application process and conditions of award. Preregistration is required. Email Carmen.Valentin (at) dca.nj (dot) gov and Nicholas.Nassiff (at) dca.nj (dot) gov by October 9, 2015 to preregister for the webinar. Include names, titles, and contact information for those who will be attending and the name of the entity with which they are affiliated. The application period will end October 25, 2015.

Program funding is from federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery monies allocated to New Jersey to assist with Sandy recovery and resiliency. For more information on the Statewide and Regional Planning Assistance Grant Program, visit: http://www.nj.gov/dca/services/lps/SRPAGP.html.