The Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act took one step closer to reauthorization last Monday, passing the House of Representatives in decisive, bipartisan fashion.
Sponsored by Representatives Nick LaLota of New York and Joe Courtney of Connecticut, HR 5441 provides $65 million in annual funding from 2024 through 2028 for the Long Island Sound Study and programs and projects that seek to restore and protect the environmental health of Long Island Sound and the region. This funding supports a range of projects, from dam removals to living shoreline restorations and water quality monitoring. The Unified Water Study (UWS), coordinated by Save the Sound, is one such example; now in its eighth season, the UWS is composed of 27 partner groups monitoring the ecological health of 46 bays and harbors around Long Island Sound.
“We’re so encouraged to see bipartisan support for reauthorizing the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act, especially as the Long Island Sound Study works to revise our Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan. As we consider all the challenges facing the Long Island Sound region related to climate change and development pressure, this funding is more essential than ever,” said Denise Stranko, executive vice president of programs for Save the Sound, who recently visited Capitol Hill with other members of the Long Island Sound Study Citizens Advisory Committee.
