NJDEP | Resilient NJ | Planning Projects

Regional Projects

Resilient NJ is currently providing funding for four multi-municipal regions to develop and implement their own unique Regional Resilience and Adaptation Action Plans (RRAAPs). These projects bring together teams of municipalities, counties, and community-based organizations with a strong emphasis on robust and meaningful community engagement throughout the process and supporting socially vulnerable populations in the project area. The four regional projects are Northeastern New Jersey, Raritan River & Bay Communities, Long Beach Island Region, and Atlantic County Coastal Region. These projects are supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded through the National Disaster Resilience Competition.

The regional projects completed their first phases, resulting in their respective RRAAPs and some initial implementation in December of 2022. These projects have been extended, through additional HUD CDBG-DR funding, and are currently pursuing implementation of region-selected projects from the Action Plans. Several towns within the regions have already been awarded state and federal funding as a result of this process and continue to seek further implementation to advance resilience in their communities.

Municipal Projects

Resilient NJ’s Municipal Assistance Program (MAP) is a technical assistance program directed at providing municipalities with climate change-related hazard vulnerability assessments (CCHRVA), per the State’s Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL) and municipal resilience action plans (MRAPs). The program, administered by DEP’s Office of Climate Resilience (OCR), utilizes available funding sources to procure the services of qualified contractors to engage with the community, develop resilience products, and assist with project implementation, most often through grant applications for federal funding opportunities.

Projects within the MAP program are conducted using a thorough and equitable engagement process to result in municipal resilience action plans to be used by local governments to advance resilience projects in their communities. As the program expands, the Office of Climate Resilience continues to determine new and different ways to provide assistance to best meet the needs of areas all of New Jersey’s communities. The first inaugural round of MAP projects has been completed, and a new round recently announced.