Financing Strategies Used by the National Estuary Program

On average, the National Estuary Programs (NEPs) raise $17 for every $1 provided by EPA. The NEPs successfully leverage federal seed money by:

developing finance plans
building strategic alliances
demonstrating environmental results
providing seed money or staff to initiate and develop new funding sources such as stormwater utilities

Graph showing that cumulative primary leveraging by the NEP was $7 billion from FY2006 through FY2022, and cumulative EPA funding allocations are at approximately $411 million

Over the 2006-2022 period, the NEPs leveraged more than $7 billion from $463 million in EPA grants. This additional funding came from a variety of federal, state, local and private sources through such mechanisms as:

annual membership appeals
license plate revenues
fines and penalties
state appropriations
intergovernmental agreements

There are many sustainable funding examples from the NEPs.

Pie chart of the NEP PLI from FY2006 to FY 2022 by percent. Wastewater: 46.6, Restoration:14, Land acquisition: 13.8, Stormwater: 6.3 CSO: 4.4, Monitoring/Research: 4.25, Admin Operations: 3.9, Non-Point Source: 3, Public Educatio: 2.2, Other 1.5

The NEPs use leveraged resources to:

protect and restore important habitat
support critical land acquisitions
upgrade wastewater and stormwater infrastructure
conduct outreach and education
implement other priority actions contained in their Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plans (CCMP).

Note: Leveraged dollars are defined as the dollar value (cash or in-kind equivalent) of resources dedicated to implementing an NEP CCMP above and beyond the funding provided to the NEP under Section 320, including earmark funding. "Primary” leveraging indicates that the NEP Director and staff, rather than NEP partners, played the central or leadership role in obtaining the additional resources.

Financing Strategies Used by the National Estuary Program

National Estuary Program (NEP)