Coastal Partnership Initiative Grant Program

The Coastal Partnership Initiative Grant Program is administered by the Florida Coastal Management Program within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The program was developed to protect and effectively manage Florida's coastal resources at the local level. Through the initiative, the Florida Coastal Management Program makes federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Zone Management Act funds available competitively to eligible local governments. The program is focused on innovative local coastal management projects and supports efforts intended to protect, manage, restore, and improve coastal resources and communities in Florida. Coastal Partnership Initiative funding supports projects in four identified program areas: resilient communities, public access, working waterfronts, and coastal stewardship. Examples of community projects identified by the funder include habitat restoration, park planning and improvements, waterfront revitalization, and improvements to community resiliency to coastal hazards. These examples demonstrate the program's emphasis on practical coastal management activities with a local benefit. The supplied program page does not state an award minimum, award maximum, total amount available through the Coastal Partnership Initiative, number of awards expected, or a required cost-share or matching contribution for this funding cycle. Funding amounts stated elsewhere on the page apply to the separate State Agency and Water Management District Grant Program and therefore are not attributed to the Coastal Partnership Initiative. Directly eligible local governments are Florida's 35 coastal counties and municipalities within those counties that are required to include a coastal element in their local comprehensive plan. Florida public colleges and universities, regional planning councils, national estuary programs, and nonprofit groups may also apply, but these organizations must have an eligible local government participating as a partner. This creates an important eligibility condition for applicants outside the directly eligible local-government group. The opportunity is consequently limited geographically to qualifying entities and partnerships in Florida rather than being a nationwide funding opportunity. The Florida Coastal Management Program solicits Coastal Partnership Initiative applications by publishing a Notice of Availability of Funds in the Florida Administrative Register each year. The program page provides a Coastal Partnership Initiative Application Form and FAQ as applicant resources, along with the CPI Grant Rule 62S-4, F.A.C. Additional materials include a Section 306A Questionnaire and NOAA environmental compliance requirements. The supplied page does not identify a separate letter of intent, concept paper, pre-proposal, or other pre-application gating deadline for the upcoming cycle. Applicants seeking detailed application procedures, funding eligibility information, review procedures, or answers concerning submission are directed to the Florida Coastal Management Program Grants Section at 850-245-2094. The page identifies application review procedures as information available through the program's detailed materials but does not itself state specific scored evaluation criteria, weights, or a notification or award date for the upcoming cycle. It also provides resources for funding recipients, including required FCMP/CZMA language and acknowledgments, a payment request packet, progress report materials, a final project report form, volunteer reporting materials, and photo release forms. These resources indicate post-award administrative and reporting requirements, although the supplied Coastal Partnership Initiative program-page text does not specify the performance period for the upcoming awards. The FY 2026-27 request for applications cycle is closed. The next request for applications, identified as the FY 2027-28 cycle, will open September 1, 2026 and remain open through October 31, 2026. Because the analysis date is August 25, 2026, this upcoming application period has not yet opened and the opportunity is in an Early Engagement stage with a Forecasted status. The program is recurring because the Florida Coastal Management Program states that it publishes a Notice of Availability of Funds each year. The next known cycle is therefore September 2026, with September 1, 2026 serving as the next internal check date based on the explicitly announced opening date.

Align the proposed project with the CPI program's stated coastal management purpose and one or more of its four program areas: resilient communities, public access, working waterfronts, and coastal stewardship; applicants outside the directly eligible local-government group must secure participation by an eligible local government partner.