What We Do

Community members prepare to plant salt marsh at Old Place Creek, a tributary of Arthur Kill in the New York/New Jersey harbor.

The NOAA Restoration Center plans, implements, and funds coastal restoration projects throughout the United States. Three primary programs allow the Restoration Center to restore fisheries habitat.

The NOAA Restoration Center is a part of the Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (DARP) and, as such, participates in pursuing natural resource damage claims. The DARP is a cross-cutting program that includes the Restoration Center, the Damage Assessment Center (housed in NOAA's National Ocean Service) and elements from the Office of General Counsel. The program receives its mandate from statutory authorities including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), the Clean Water Act, and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act. These statutes authorize NOAA, through the DARP, to assess and claim damages for injuries to trust resources in marine and coastal settings a result of discharges of oil or hazardous substances or other human-induced environmental disturbances. The Restoration Center uses recovered damages to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of injured resources. The DARP has collected over $300 million in damages through numerous cases, and has initiated restoration efforts around the country.

The NOAA Restoration Center also engages in a number of non-litigation-related activities. It is working to stem the tide of wetland loss in Louisiana, which is beset by the highest rate of coastal wetland loss in the nation. The RC plays a large role as part of a federal-state partnership mandated by the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA, also known as the Breaux Act) to develop and implement habitat projects to restore salt marshes lost to erosion, subsidence and hydrological alterations. Today, NOAA Fisheries is actively involved in planning and implementing large- and small-scale wetland restoration projects benefitting more than 130,000 acres with approximately $150 million in project funding.

The RC is also home to the NOAA Community-based Restoration Program, a highly successful program that involves communities in the restoration of local marine and estuarine habitat. Partnerships with Federal agencies, states, local governments, non-governmental and non-profit organizations, businesses, industry and schools have helped over 1500 local organizations restore marine and coastal habitats through over 900 projects around the United States. NOAA Fisheries and its partners provide funding and expertise to numerous coastal community projects that promote coastal stewardship and a conservation ethic. Through partnerships, the Community-based Restoration Program has been able to leverage $3-$5 for every Federal dollar invested. The CRP works through direct grants and subawards granted by our Habitat Restoration Partners.

For more information on all of NOAA's habitat restoration activities,
please visit the NOAA Restoration Portal.