Climate change threatens coastal areas, which are already stressed by human activity, pollution, invasive species, and storms. Sea level rise could erode and inundate coastal ecosystems and eliminate wetlands. As natural marshes are lost to erosion, sea level rise, and human activity, small created marshes have gained interest as a replacement habitat; providing both shoreline stabilization and restoration of important ecological functions. These habitats may be vital for human coastal communities that are losing their homes due to climate change.

This bill helps support the adoption of living shoreline projects by requiring NOAA to award competitive research grants to eligible entities, including U.S. territories, to carry out projects focused on developing and assessing the effectiveness of innovative approaches to nature-based infrastructure for specified climate-related purposes. It will also support projects that restore or stabilize a shoreline using predominately natural materials to create buffers to attenuate the impact of coastal storms, currents, flooding, and wave energy and to prevent or minimize shoreline erosion while providing a net ecological and climate benefit to ecosystems and habitats. These solutions can have amazing effects for the longevity of coastal communities.