§ 918 — Financial assistance

§ 918. Financial assistance. 1. The secretary may enter into a\ncontract or contracts for grants or payments to be made, within the\nlimits of any appropriations therefor, for the following:\n a. To any local governments, or to two or more local governments, for\nprojects approved by the secretary which lead to preparation of a\nwaterfront revitalization program; provided, however, that such grants\nor payments shall not exceed seventy-five percent of the approved cost\nof such projects provided, however, in environmental justice\ncommunities, such assistance payments and/or technical assistance shall\nnot exceed eighty-five percent of the cost of the program;\n b. To any local government or local government agency for research,\ndesign, and other activities which serve to facilitate construction\nprojects provided for in an approved waterfront revitalization program;\nprovided, however, that such projects shall take into account the future\nphysical climate risk due to sea level rise, and/or storm surges and/or\nflooding, based on available data predicting the likelihood of future\nextreme weather events including hazard risk analysis data if applicable\nand provided, further, that such grants or payments shall not exceed ten\npercent of the estimated cost of such construction project.\n 2. Funds available for the purposes of this section shall be allocated\nin a fair and equitable manner; such allocation shall reflect the\ninitiative shown by local governments in preparing waterfront\nrevitalization programs and in carrying them out.\n