RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Research Grants Program

Under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act), Subtitle F of P.L. 112-141, the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund was established in the Treasury of the United States. Eighty percent of the civil penalties paid after July 6, 2012, under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will be deposited into the Trust Fund and invested. The RESTORE Act created five components through which funds will be disbursed. Treasury is publishing multiple funding opportunity notices as part of the RESTORE Act. This announcement applies only to the Centers of Excellence Research Grants Program. Trust Fund amounts are available to establish one or more Centers of Excellence through competitive subawards to nongovernmental entities, including institutions of higher education. Funds may be used by those Centers of Excellence to conduct research only on the Gulf Coast region in one or more of the following disciplines: 1. Coastal and deltaic sustainability, restoration and protection, including solutions and technology that allow citizens to live in a safe and sustainable manner in a coastal delta in the Gulf Coast Region; 2. Coastal fisheries and wildlife ecosystem research and monitoring in the Gulf Coast Region; 3. Offshore energy development, including research and technology to improve the sustainable and safe development of energy resources in the Gulf of Mexico; 4. Sustainable and resilient growth, economic and commercial development in the Gulf Coast Region; and 5. Comprehensive observation, monitoring, and mapping of the Gulf of Mexico.