{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-noaa-biden-harris-administration-announce-725-million-for-new-jersey-project-as-part-of-investing-in-america-agenda", "Booker, NOAA, Biden-Harris Administration Announce $72.5 Million for New Jersey Project as Part of Investing in America Agenda", "2024-08-02", "2024", "2024-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "NJ", "Cory A. Booker", "B001288", "www.booker.senate.gov", "booker", "https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press", "scraper", "NEWARK, N.J. \u2013 U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) helped secure $72.5 million for a project in New Jersey to make the state\u2019s coast more resilient to climate change and other coastal hazards. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced that the Department of Commerce and NOAA have recommended the project, which encompasses 16 coastal New Jersey counties, for federal funding. The awards are being made under the Biden Administration\u2019s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge, a competitive, $575 million program funded through the nearly $6 billion total investment under the Biden-Harris Administration\u2019s Inflation Reduction Act, which passed Congress along party lines.\n\nSenator Booker gave his support to the Building a Climate Ready New Jersey project. In January, Booker wrote to NOAA to highlight the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority's advocacy for funding from the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge for this project. And in February, he led the New Jersey delegation in requesting NOAA funding for this comprehensive plan aimed at helping communities across New Jersey prepare for extreme weather events.\n\n\u201cI am thrilled to see New Jersey receive $72.5 million to fund critical projects across 16 coastal counties to enhance our state\u2019s resilience and readiness for climate impacts,\u201d said Senator Cory Booker. \u201cThis investment, secured through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed by Democrats in Congress and the Biden-Harris administration, will restore wetlands, implement green infrastructure, and protect our environment while also creating new opportunities for education and workforce development. I commend NOAA for their commitment to fostering climate-ready communities, and I look forward to seeing the positive impact of these projects on New Jersey\u2019s coast.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs part of President Biden\u2019s commitment to combating the climate crisis, we are investing $575 million to help make sure America\u2019s coastal communities are more resilient to the effects of climate change,\u201d said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. \u201cAs part of this historic investment in our nation\u2019s climate resilience the Biden-Harris Administration is investing $72.5 million to help underserved communities in New Jersey develop and implement new strategies to protect themselves from flooding, storm surge, and extreme weather events.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe funding award for \u2018Building a Climate Ready NJ\u2019 highlights the advances that the State of New Jersey has made in leading the nation\u2019s efforts on climate action. Ready NJ also advances efforts already underway in the Meadowlands to develop and implement climate resilient plans and actionable nature-based projects through an engaging and inclusive process. The NJSEA looks forward to collaborating with the Ready NJ team to make NJ\u2019s resilience vision a reality,\u201d said Paul Juliano, President & CEO of NJSEA.\n\nAdministered by the Department of Commerce and NOAA, the Climate Ready Coasts initiative is focused on investing in high-impact projects that create climate solutions by storing carbon; building resilience to coastal hazards such as extreme weather events, pollution and marine debris; restoring coastal habitats that help wildlife and humans thrive; building the capacity of underserved communities and supporting community-driven restoration; and providing employment opportunities\n\n\u201cNOAA recognizes that measurably reducing risks and coastal-area vulnerabilities are integral components of strengthening communities to work towards an equitable, climate resilient future,\u201d said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. \u201cThis funding provides New Jersey with climate data and services, technical assistance and critical resources that support transformational resilience, restoration and adaptation in support of the exceptionally strong demand for these types of projects.\u201d\n\nThis project will improve community resilience by creating a resilience planning and project design pipeline to help advance resilience-focused projects from design to implementation, and will also support transformational resilience projects in multiple overburdened communities. The efforts will restore wetlands, protect critical infrastructure, use green infrastructure to address stormwater flooding and urban heat islands and create new public access to coastal waterways and recreational opportunities. Funds will also go towards education, workforce development, training and entrepreneurship opportunities throughout the region.\n\n\u201cOver the last few years, we have seen the detrimental effects of increasing and extreme weather events across the state \u2013 especially in some of New Jersey\u2019s frontline coastal and riverine communities,\u201d said Governor Phil Murphy. \u201cIt is critical that we ensure their resilience in the face of climate change and thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, New Jersey will receive much needed support to prepare these regions for flooding, storm surge, and other extreme weather events.\"\n\n\u201cNew Jersey\u2019s unique coastal communities are a highlight of the Jersey experience. In addition to the millions of residents who call our coast home, thousands of families from across the world visit these towns throughout the year, generating billions in tourism dollars for our state\u2019s economy,\u201d said Lt. Governor Tahesha Way. \u201cWith climate change making our state more susceptible to destructive effects, we are focusing on ways to safeguard the families and neighborhoods on our coast. I am so grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration for this critical funding awarded today to help create more storm resilient coastal communities in our state to protect neighborhoods and families from harm and maintain our beautiful Jersey Shore.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:36:13Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-noaa-biden-harris-administration-announce-725-million-for-new-jersey-project-as-part-of-investing-in-america-agenda"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2206099927425385, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}