Local brief
NOAA extends its University of New Hampshire Coastal Response Research Center partnership through 2031
NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration says a new grant extends its partnership with the University of New Hampshire’s Coastal Response Research Center through 2031. Planned work includes a new Puget Sound oil spill sensitivity atlas, regional emergency management workshops and upgrades to NOAA’s ERMA response mapping tool.
NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) announced that a new grant extends its partnership with the University of New Hampshire (UNH) for the Coastal Response Research Center through 2031.
About the center. NOAA says the center was set up in 2004 as a partnership between OR&R and UNH. It researches and develops new ways to respond to oil spills and other hazards that threaten coastal environments and communities. Students work on projects such as oil spill sensor testing at the UNH School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering.
Planned projects. NOAA says the center and OR&R will work on spill response, preparedness, tools, data access and Arctic challenges. Projects listed include finishing a new Environmental Sensitivity Index atlas for Puget Sound, Washington, last updated in 2006; facilitating NOAA’s 2027 Hurricane Preparedness Summit; helping convene five regional workshops for state and local emergency managers; and, with the UNH Research Computing Center, upgrading NOAA’s Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA) mapping tool, including live U.S. Coast Guard vessel traffic and drone imagery.
Ongoing research. The center also works on sensitivity atlases for the Great Lakes, emerging fuels, Arctic coastal assessment and remote sensing, and oil spill modeling. It convenes science working groups on topics such as submerged oil, toxicology and dispersants. NOAA did not give a dollar amount for the grant in the post.
Original source: NOAA Office of Response and Restoration blog, OR&R Extends UNH Partnership for Coastal Response Research Center Through 2031, posted Oct. 8, 2026, and shared in a NOAA National Ocean Service email on Oct. 14, 2026 (https://blog.response.restoration.noaa.gov/orr-extends-unh-partnership-coastal-response-research-center-through-2031). Notice Nearby wrote this brief in its own words.
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Source: the public notice on this register NN-GOVEMAIL-20261014-NHSTRAFCRRC · NOAA Office of Response and Restoration.
This is a Notice Nearby local brief — an in-house explainer written from a government-posted notice on this register. It is not official minutes, not a newspaper story, and not Legal Publication.