A third round of the Long Island Sound (LIS) Resilience Planning Support Program opened December 1, 2025. Up to $1.5 million is available. Expressions of Interest will be accepted between December 1 – January 30 and you must set up a call with your regional SRC EP to discuss your project before February 6, 2026 in order to be considered.
Learn more here.
Interested in learning about the newly awarded projects? The 2025 Award Slate is available here.
The Long Island Sound (LIS) Partnership Sustainable and Resilient Communities Extension Professionals (SRC EPs) established the Long Island Sound Resilience Planning Support Program in Winter 2023 to provide communities within the Long Island Sound Coastal Boundary across New York and Connecticut planning support to help identify and develop sustainability and resilience-focused projects. This Program matches communities with qualified contractors to help assess local climate risks, conceptualize project ideas, and conduct preliminary planning efforts in order to be well-positioned to access funding for further design and implementation of resilience projects. Communities that receive awards can receive support for project scoping and planning at the local or regional level, and the support is provided at no cost to the communities—no match is required!
The Planning Support Program is generally available on an annual basis. A Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) is released, typically in the winter, where applicants are asked to fill out a simple Google form explaining their planning needs and providing other basic information. After a discussion with the SRC EP that works in the region the project is proposed to take place in, applicants will be sent the full application form to fill out and return before the application deadline. The application process is intended to be simple, and can be submitted via Google Forms or email.
The SRC EP Team then reviews and scores all applications based on Evaluation Criteria that are shared in the RFEI, and ultimately selects a pool of Candidates. The Candidates then work with the SRC EP Team to develop project descriptions that are included in Request for Proposals (RFP) that are issued through the University of Connecticut (UConn) and Cornell University (Cornell). Through the RFP process, UConn and Cornell competitively procure qualified contractors to support as many Candidate projects as possible, based on the program’s criteria, including the availability of funds and resources, engagement of a contractor(s) qualified to complete the work, and geographic balance of awards throughout the LIS Coastal Boundary.
Connecticut Sea Grant and New York Sea Grant manage the Program, with funding from US EPA through the Long Island Sound Partnership.
To learn more about the program, visit lisresilience.org/assistance-programs.
Visit the Long Island Sound Resilience Resource Hub for tailored tools, guidance, and information to support sustainability and resilience efforts across the region. Explore lisresilience.org to access these valuable resources and learn about Grant Writing Assistance and Planning Support Programs available to help turn your project ideas into action.
Read descriptions of all 14 projects totaling $909,121 in planning support here.
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