Coastal Protection Fund grants support locally sponsored projects that restore or enhance the natural environment. Typical projects address water quality issues and fish and wildlife habitat protection or enhancement in or adjacent to waters of the state, such as streams, lakes, wetlands, or the ocean. To be considered, projects must provide primary benefits to public resources (land or water stewardship) and affiliated infrastructure.

The CPF is divided into three separate accounts, two of which are managed by the Spill Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Program:

Resource Damage Assessment (RDA) Account

The RDA Account receives payments from natural resource damage assessment claims under RCW 90.48.366 through RCW 90.48.368. Damage claims are deposited into regional subaccounts to fund restoration and enhancement projects in the geographic regions where spills have occurred.

For the 2023 grant cycle, RDA funds are available for the Columbia River/Outer Coast project areas.

John Bernhardt (JB) Account

The JB Account receives payments from oil spill penalties. The JB Account has two subaccounts: Restoration and Enhancement. The Restoration sub-account funds projects statewide that restore or enhance environmental, recreational, archaeological, or aesthetic resources for the benefit of Washington’s citizens. The Enhancement sub-account funds projects that investigate the long-term effects of oil spills or develop and implement aquatic land geographic information systems. These funding guidelines apply to the John Bernhardt restoration subaccount only.

For the 2023 grant cycle, JB Restoration funding is available to projects statewide.