The Department of Environmental Protection Tuesday invited nonprofits, local governments, schools and universities, and other organizations to apply for 2017 Coastal Zone Grants to be used for projects that benefit Pennsylvania’s coastal resources in the Lake Erie and Delaware Estuary watersheds.

The deadline for applications is October 17.

“Pennsylvania’s coastal watersheds host invaluable natural, community, and economic resources that we must work to protect from increasing pressures, such as climate change and pollution,” DEP Acting Secretary Patrick McDonnell said. “Coastal Zone Grants expand our reach by enabling a number of organizations to do important work to help protect these treasures.”

Grants are awarded to projects that benefit coastal wetlands, coastal hazards, public access, marine debris, cumulative and secondary impacts, special area management planning, Great Lakes resources, energy and government facility siting and activities and aquaculture.

Projects must be located within the 112-mile stretch along the Delaware Estuary or 77 miles along Lake Erie.

Grant awards are expected to be announced in summer 2017.

Since 1980, the DEP Coastal Resources Management Program has provided more than $50 million in funding for Pennsylvania coastal zone projects. The annual grants are largely funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and are administered by the DEP Coastal Resources Management Program.

Applications must be submitted electronically through DEP’s Environmental eGrants System webpage. For more information, visit DEP’s Coastal Zone Grants webpage.

9/26/2016