Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is welcoming notice of grants for the territory from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through NOAA and a grant for LBJ from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

NATIONAL COAST RESILIENCE GRANT

National Coast Resilience Funds (NCRF) of over $1.67 million ($1,673,100) for American Samoa Department of Commerce (ASDOC) announced by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NCRF funds are derived from both public and private sources, and these grants include $93.7 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) passed by Congress in November 2021. The BIL enabled the NCRF to increase the number of awards and the size of awards granted for natural infrastructure projects.

 “Thank you to Commerce Director Petti T. Matila and the entire team at ASDOC upon winning this very competitive grant despite hundreds of other applicants around the country,” said Aumua Amata. “This is an innovative project which can lead to future projects through Light detection and ranging(LIDAR)  mapping, so thank you to the entire team for the vision and effort to secure this grant.”

American Samoa’s proposal was selected for competitive funding from among 455 pre-proposals sent in nationwide, a four-fold increase in applications, out of which 88 projects were selected in 29 coastal states and territories, including American Samoa, for a national total of $136 million. Factoring in matching funds, the total conservation impact is $241 million, to help restore more than 16,000 acres of coastal habitats nationally.

These NFWF/NOAA projects are designed to strengthen natural infrastructure—the landscapes that help absorb the impacts of storms and floods—to protect coastal communities and enhance fish and wildlife habitat.

American Samoa’s grant funds a project to use LiDAR to support nature-based resilience solutions in American Samoa. LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth. These light pulses—combined with other data recorded by the airborne system — generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics.

The grant notes that American Samoa’s thriving rainforests, coral reefs, and the island’s villages are vulnerable to significant sea level rise that continues to impact community infrastructure and livelihoods. Under this project, the American Samoa Government Department of Commerce will collect topographical-bathymetric LiDAR and plane-based photographic imagery for all of American Samoa’s islands and atolls to form the foundation for resilience projects that address sea level rise in American Samoa. The project will acquire the foundational water level, geodetic observations, and inundation modeling needed to build capacity to implement coastal resilience projects.

 “This funding allows communities to invest in keeping their coasts healthy for generations to come and helps build a Climate-Ready Nation,” said NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “NOAA values the contributions of our partners to scale up efforts to help communities address climate-related risks.”

 “As communities recover from devastating storm events, it is vital we support nature-based solutions that help communities not only protect against destructive flooding, but also enhance the coastal habitats that are so important to people and wildlife,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. “These grants will provide the critical resources that communities need to prepare for, rebound from and adapt to the more destructive storms that are impacting our coasts.”

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), administers the federal funding from Congress in partnership with NOAA, leveraging additional funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, Shell USA, TransRe, Oxy, and the Bezos Earth Fund.

 “Congratulations to Governor Lemanu, Lt. Governor Talauega, and ASG, and thank you to NOAA and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the other backers of these efforts adding funds to those from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” Amata concluded.

$2 MILLION FROM FEMA FOR LBJ

American Samoa is set to receive a $1,909,802.70 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center (LBJ). The grant is the last installment of a two-part federal award to LBJ, with the first grant of $1.9 million being announced in September.

The two federal grants reimburse American Samoa for its continuing improvement efforts for acute care, the pediatric ward, operating, labor and delivery rooms that have been ongoing since April. The project included the addition of 26 beds with medical equipment such as ventilator support and other respiratory and COVID related care.

 “I am very thankful to FEMA for this second round of federal grants for LBJ’s continuing efforts to improve its care for the people of American Samoa,” said Aumua Amata. “The hardworking people at the hospital have stayed focused all year to make the most critical changes to our hospital, and this federal support goes a long way in defraying most of those costs. While repairs and improvements to LBJ are always needs, I will continue the fight to bring a new, state of the art hospital to American Samoa so our people can get the quality care they deserve, and our healthcare workers are given the very best spaces and equipment to do their jobs.”

 “I congratulate Governor Lemanu, Lt. Governor Talauega, LBJ CEO Moefa’auo William Emmsley, and the critical staff that did the legwork to get this grant from FEMA. I also thank FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and her organization for all their support for the territory.”