FY2024-2025 National Sea Grant BIL Marine Debris Challenge Competition | NOAA OAR SG 2024 23706

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA OAR SG 2024 23706

The FY2024-2025 National Sea Grant BIL Marine Debris Challenge Competition is a NOAA Sea Grant funding opportunity designed to move beyond studying marine debris and instead push practical, real-world solutions into use. Run through the National Sea Grant College Program under NOAA, this competition supports work that improves understanding and management of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources, consistent with Sea Grant's authorizing statute (33 USC 1121(b)). The focus here is marine debris as defined in federal regulation (15 C.F.R. 909.1): persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and ends up in marine or Great Lakes environments, whether intentionally or not. That includes a wide range of debris types, such as plastic waste and trash, derelict vessels, lost or abandoned fishing gear, and microplastics. The opportunity is framed around the scale of the plastics problem in particular, noting that the United States is a leading generator of plastic waste and that mismanaged waste can leak into waterways and eventually into coastal and marine systems.

The funding is supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (also referred to as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, IIJA), which directed $50 million over five years to Sea Grant specifically for marine debris prevention and removal. While plastics are a central concern, NOAA makes clear that other debris types can be addressed as appropriate, and that this Sea Grant effort is meant to complement NOAA's broader work, especially the National Ocean Service Marine Debris Program, which is heavily oriented toward removal, cleanup, mitigation, and prevention. A core expectation is that individual Sea Grant programs prioritize local needs and develop research-driven solutions that explicitly incorporate historically underserved communities, aligning with Executive Order 13985's emphasis on equity in federal programs.

What sets this competition apart is its emphasis on "research to application" (R2A). NOAA is looking for projects that take research and turn it into tangible outputs that can be deployed, adopted, or scaled, rather than stopping at academic findings. The solicitation encourages big ideas and calculated risk-taking, but it draws a firm line around deliverables: proposals may include planning or capacity-building components, yet they must be paired with implementation, and the endpoint cannot be only non-tangible products such as journal articles or general awareness and training efforts. Competitive proposals are expected to show, in a concrete way, how the work will produce new, effective deliverables that change what is possible for marine debris prevention and/or removal, and then communicate those outputs to communities, stakeholders, and industry to close real gaps in practice.

The types of projects NOAA invites include, but are not limited to, novel or not-yet-proven interception and removal technologies (for example, prototype devices that still require research and development before full deployment, or devices that need testing in new environments), reusable systems that prevent waste from becoming debris in the first place, and improved approaches for detecting and mitigating microplastics and nanoplastics. The overall intent is practical innovation that can be demonstrated, evaluated, and positioned for broader adoption. The competition also expects strong partnerships: projects should include Sea Grant education and extension professionals and bring together a diverse coalition that can include community representatives, stakeholder groups, and industry collaborators. Beyond partnership structure, proposals are expected to proactively apply diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility principles throughout the work, not as an add-on but as a built-in part of planning, implementation, and engagement.

Award recipients will be expected to participate in annual National Sea Grant Marine Debris meetings. These meetings function as a coordination and learning mechanism where funded teams share results, troubleshoot challenges, synthesize what is being learned across projects, and map next steps. In other words, NOAA is not only funding individual projects, but also trying to build a connected portfolio of applied solutions that can mature over time.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary NOAA opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number NOAA OAR SG 2024 23706) using grant and cooperative agreement instruments, tied to CFDA 11.417 and categorized under IIJA/BIL activities. The posted award ceiling is $3,000,000, with an anticipated 12 awards. The opportunity was created on September 13, 2023, and the original closing date was March 27, 2024. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with additional clarification referenced in the full notice, which typically means applicants should closely check the detailed eligibility language to confirm whether they must apply through or in partnership with Sea Grant institutions or other specific entities.

Finally, the competition strongly favors proposals that bring additional resources to the table. Cost sharing, leveraged funds, and in-kind contributions are explicitly described as making projects more competitive, and NOAA notes that leveraging is considered in the evaluation criteria. Applicants are encouraged to combine federal support with matching and informal leverage from a range of public and private sources, reinforcing the program's overall theme: build partnerships, produce deployable solutions, and accelerate meaningful on-the-ground change in marine debris prevention and removal.

• The Department of Commerce, DOC NOAA - ERA Production in the infrastructure investment and jobs act (iija) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY2024-2025 National Sea Grant BIL Marine Debris Challenge Competition" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.417.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 13, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 27, 2024. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for NOAA OAR SG 2024 23706

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: