WASHINGTON-- Congress is set to give final approval for several requests totaling $5,409,000 secured by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) for funding in Rhode Island as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) Energy and Water Appropriations bill and $5,750,000 in the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill. Funding in the Energy and Water Appropriations Conference Report for Fiscal Year 2006, provides money for initiatives throughout the Narragansett Bay watershed including projects in the East Bay, Blackstone River, Greenwich Bay, Fox Point and South County as well as funds to aid medical training and research at Brown University. Reed stated, Rhode Islands coastline and waterways are some of its greatest resources. I am glad I am able to play a role in helping to maintain their environmental quality and economic value by securing funding to protect these resources.The Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006, provides funding to research lobster shell disease in Rhode Island and throughout New England, for Save the Bays Explore the Bay Marine Education Program, for Aquaculture development and for land conservation.Reed stated, This funding is essential to the continued economic and environmental viability of Rhode Island. It will help conserve and preserve important habitat, educate Rhode Islanders about the value of Narragansett Bay and fund important research to improve the state of shellfishing in Rhode Island.Pawtuxet Cove Federal Navigation Project Maintenance Dredging: $1,440,000Cranston/WarwickNarrow River Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Project: $150,000Narragansett/South KingstownBrown University Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner: $1,000,000ProvidenceBullocks Point Cove Federal Navigation Project Maintenance Dredging: $630,000East Providence/BarringtonCharlestown Breachway navigation study: $90,000CharlestownBoyds Marsh (Town Pond) Salt Marsh Restoration: $500,000PortsmouthBrush Neck Cove habitat restoration: $150,000WarwickAllins Cove Environmental Restoration: $300,000BarringtonTen Mile River Fisheries Restoration: $250,000New England Lobster Disease Research: $3 millionCharlestown Police Department - COPS Technology: $300,000CharlestownRoger Williams University Center for Aquaculture Development (CAD): $1,000,000BristolCaritas Adolescent Substance Abuse Program: $200,000Tunipers Pond Coastal Land Conservation: $500,000Little ComptonSave the Bay's "Explore the Bay" Marine Education Program: $500,000American Sail Training Association: $250,000NewportEnergy and WaterPawtuxet Cove Federal Navigation Project Maintenance Dredging: $1,440,000Cranston/WarwickThe bill provides $1,440,000 for the Army Corps of Engineers to remove 90,000 cubic yards of material to restore the 6-foot entrance channel, turning basin and anchorage area in Pawtuxet Cove. The Pawtuxet Cove Federal Navigation Project is an important waterway for vessel traffic serving both the cities of Cranston and Warwick. Last year Reed secured $400,000 for the dredging project, and in FY 04 he secured language urging the Corps to expedite this project while the Providence River project is underway. Based upon that report language, space has been made available in the Providence River Confined Aquatic Disposal (CAD) cells, providing a unique disposal opportunity for contaminated sediments in Pawtuxet Cove. Reed worked with Senator Chafee to secure the funding. For more information contact: Grover Fugate, Coastal Resources Management Council, (401) 783-7112Narrow River Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Project: $150,000Narragansett/South KingstownThe bill provides $150,000 in federal funding to continue a feasibility study of a project to restore estuarine habitats along the Narrow River in Narragansett and South Kingstown. The Army Corps of Engineers has prepared a Preliminary Restoration Plan to reduce tidal restriction between Narrow River and Rhode Island Sound. Narrow River, also known as Pettaquamscutt River, is located near the entrance to the West Passage of Narragansett Bay. Narrow River is a constricted and poorly flushed estuary. Shoaling in the lower Narrow River and high nutrient concentrations may be contributing to a decline in eelgrass and shellfish habitat. Eelgrass beds and other submerged aquatic vegetation provide valuable nesting, spawning, nursery, cover, and foraging habitat for aquatic and semi-aquatic animals. The river provides important estuarine and freshwater habitats that contribute to the productivity of Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound. The degradation of these habitats adversely affects Rhode Island coastal ecosystems. The feasibility study will investigate alternatives to restore eelgrass, shellfish, waterfowl, and finfish habitats, and salt marshes in the Narrow River. Last year Reed secured $150,000 for the study. For more information contact: Grover Fugate, Coastal Resources Management Council, (401) 783-7112Brown University Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner: $1,000,000 ProvidenceThe bill contains $1,000,000 to support Brown Universitys purchase of a 3 Tesla MRI scanner and renovation of facilities to house the instrument and perform medical training and research.To meet the rapidly growing need for research access to a state-of-the-art high-field functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) scanner, acquisition of a 3 Tesla MRI scanner is critical to the continued success of the world-class research underway at Brown University and to the medical community of Rhode Island. This cutting-edge facility will be used for both training and research, in both clinical, basic medical and scientific applications to study normal and diseased functions of the brain and other organs.Reed worked with Congressman Patrick Kennedy to secure funding. For more information contact: Robert Zimmer, Brown University, (401) 863-2706Bullocks Point Cove Federal Navigation Project Maintenance Dredging: $630,000 East Providence/BarringtonThe bill contains $630,000 for the Army Corps of Engineers to remove 50,000 cubic yards of dredged material to restore the projects 8-foot entrance channel, the 6-foot inner channel, and the 6-foot mooring and turning basins. Last year, Reed secured $250,000 for the dredging. In FY 04, he secured language which provided space for the disposal of sediment from the Bullocks Point Cove Federal Navigation Project in the Providence River Confined Aquatic Disposal (CAD) cell. Reed worked with Senator Chafee to secure funding.For more information contact: Grover Fugate, Coastal Resources Management Council, (401) 783-7112Charlestown Breachway navigation study: $90,000CharlestownThe bill provides $90,000 to complete a navigation study and initiate and complete the project design for the Charlestown Breachway and Inlet. There is growing concern for navigation safety through the breachway, which connects Ninigret Pond to Rhode Island Sound. The Army Corps of Engineers is considering a project to remove large boulders on the ocean side of the breachway as well as some dredging of the natural channel farther inland. The Corps will already be dredging in Ninigret Pond for habitat purposes under the South Coast Habitat Restoration Project, minimizing the cost of the project.Reed secured $60,000 for the study in FY 04 and $45,000 in last years Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. For more information contact: Grover Fugate, Coastal Resources Management Council, (401) 783-7112.Boyds Marsh (Town Pond) Salt Marsh Restoration: $500,000Portsmouth The bill provides $500,000 to continue construction of the Boyds Marsh (Town Pond) restoration project. The project will restore up to 23 acres of salt marsh in a wildlife sanctuary at Town Pond by removing dredged material associated with a Federal navigation project. Congress provided $750,000 in Section 1135 construction funds for the project in FY 2004.For more information contact: Grover Fugate, Coastal Resources Management Council, (401) 783-7112.Brush Neck Cove habitat restoration: $150,000WarwickThe bill contains $150,000 for the Army Corps of Engineers and the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council to continue to develop a feasibility study for Brush Neck Cove in Greenwich Bay.Brush Neck Cove was once home to prime shellfish habitat that has been lost due to accelerated sedimentation of the cove. The Costal Resource Management Council (CRMC) has developed a restoration plan that would restore this habitat, place the sediment on eroding public beaches and develop a management plan to maintain this once productive area. Ultimately, it is hoped that this site could be seeded as part of a public aquaculture project and serve as a spawner sanctuary.In FY 04, Reed secured $100,000 to support CRMCs development of a management plan. For more information contact: Grover Fugate, Coastal Resources Management Council, (401) 783-7112.Allins Cove Environmental Restoration: $300,000BarringtonThe bill provides $300,000 to continue the restoration of degraded coastal wetlands at Allins Cove in Barrington. This project will restore coastal habitat and saltmarsh by improving tidal flushing through removal of dredged material associated with a Federal navigation project.Reed worked with Senator Chafee and Congressman Patrick Kennedy to secure funding. Last year Reed secured $279,000 for the project. For more information contact: Grover Fugate, Coastal Resources Management Council, (401) 783-7112.Ten Mile River Fisheries Restoration: $250,000The bill includes $250,000 to support the restoration of fish runs in the Ten Mile River, which runs in eastern Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. The construction of dams over the last 200 years has prevented fish passage to upstream spawning habitat. Restoring the fish run to the lower Ten Mile River would provide a wide range of benefits to the freshwater and marine fishery and to the surrounding communities. The Army Corps of Engineers has worked with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to finalize a feasibility report for the project. The federal funds would be used to initiate design for projects identified in the report, including the construction of fishways or dam removal.Reed worked with Senator Chafee to secure funding.For more information contact: Grover Fugate, Coastal Resources Management Council, (401) 783-7112.The bill also includes $14,000 for Inspection of Completed Works by the Army Corps of Engineers, $360,000 for Project Condition Surveys, and $525,000 for the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier to upgrade its 40-year old electrical system. Commerce, Justice, ScienceNew England Lobster Disease Research: $3 million The bill contains $3 million for the National Sea Grant College Program to establish a cooperative research program to study the causes of lobster disease and the decline in the lobster fishery in New England waters. The lobster fishery supports a $275 million industry in the Northeastern United States from Maine to New York. In 1997, shell disease appeared in the Southern New England lobster population and incidence rates have grown steadily, now affecting more than 30% of harvestable lobsters.The apparent northward movement of this disease calls for an aggressive research initiative to determine its causes, as well as its relationship to the collapse of the southern New England lobster fishery, which has become economic and environmentally troubled, in recent years. For more information contact: Barry Costa-Pierce, University of Rhode Island, (401) 874-6802Charlestown Police Department - COPS Technology: $300,000CharlestownThe bill contains $300,000 for the Charlestown, Rhode Island, Police Department for communications equipment to improve existing community policing capabilities and to enhance the Towns Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Funding will support the acquisition of land-mobile two-way communications radios for police cruisers, portable radios to support interoperability with other first responder agencies, video assessment and training equipment, high resolution video surveillance and monitoring system for police headquarters, an emergency power/generator system for the EOC, and an upgraded switchboard for the police station and EOC.For more information contact: Sgt. Patrick J. McMahon, Charlestown Police Dept (401)364-1212Roger Williams University Center for Aquaculture Development (CAD): $1,000,000BristolThe bill provides $1 million to support the establishment of a Center for Aquaculture Development (CAD) at Roger Williams University (RWU) in Bristol. The CAD will be established within the Universitys successful Center for Economic and Environmental Development which has an active aquaculture research program and operates the only shellfish hatchery in Rhode Island. The CADs planned programs include increasing the capacity of the Centers shellfish hatchery to develop disease resistant strains of shellfish and releasing shellfish seed and winter flounder into Narragansett Bay for public harvest. The CADs overarching goal is to enable regional industry to take advantage of a rapidly expanding global aquaculture market through advanced production research and by improving business and marketing practices.In FY 02 Reed secured a $1.5 million to encourage greater coastal economic development of aquaculture such as farming shellfish or fin-fish in coastal waters or ponds across the state. For more information contact: Jeff Gillooly, Roger Williams University, (401) 254-3871Caritas Adolescent Substance Abuse Program: $200,000The bill provides $200,000 for Caritas, Inc., the first adolescent residential substance abuse treatment program in the country. Caritas has a number of treatment services in Rhode Island, including Corkery House for boys in Pawtucket, Caritas House for girls in Richmond, as well as five outpatient programs throughout the state. Funding will be used to implement an extended adolescent tracking and testing program to prevent a return to substance abuse post treatment and support an opiate-addicted and opiate-using adolescent program developed by Caritas, providing counseling, and Discovery House, providing medically assisted treatment.For more information contact: Diane M. Holden (401) 475-8009Tunipers Pond Coastal Land Conservation: $500,000Little ComptonThe bill contains $500,000 for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) to protect 11.6 acres of coastal property in Little Compton. The tract, which is 400 feet north of the Atlantic Ocean, is within the Quicksand Pond watershed, a pristine, naturally breaching coastal salt pond and marsh associated with a narrow wave-washed cobble and sand beach/dune system, known locally as Goosewing Beach. The property abuts Tunipers Pond, a coastal salt pond adjacent to Quicksand Pond. Development pressure is substantial in this coastal watershed, an extremely popular location for primary and secondary home development. For more information contact: Grover Fugate, Coastal Resources Management Council, (401) 783-7112.Save the Bay's "Explore the Bay" Marine Education Program: $500,000The bill contains $500,000 to continue federal funding for Save the Bays dynamic and expanding program that allows students with limited economic and educational resources to experience Narragansett Bay first-hand on Save the Bay vessels and study marine sciences. The program fosters an early appreciation for the bay as students learn first hand how they can help protect and preserve one of Rhode Islands greatest resources. Prior to federal funding, the program served about 11,000 students, primarily from school districts that could afford to pay a portion of the program costs. The programs enrollment is approaching 30,000, with a growing number of students from Providence, Central Falls, and other communities whose students would otherwise be unable to get this kind of experience.The program is based out of the newly-constructed Explore the Bay campus at Fields Point, which provides expanded science education opportunities for students as well as teacher training and research programs for Providence public schools. Reed worked with the Rhode Island delegation to secure funding. In 2002, Reed secured $2 million in federal funding for construction of the new campus.Reed secured $500,000 for the Explore the Bay program in both FY 05 and in FY 04.For more information contact: Curt Spalding, Executive Director, (401)272-3540 x. 104American Sail Training Association: $250,000NewportThe bill contains $250,000 to expand the American Sail Training Associations (ASTA) programs to help at-risk youth. ASTA is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Newport, Rhode Island that represents nearly 300 tall ships, sail training organizations, and schools in more than 25 states. ASTA offers sail training programs to urban and disadvantaged youth to build character, foster teamwork, and develop leadership qualities. Programs provide experiential learning that connects students academic lessons to real life experiences, creating a direct link between tall ships and the classroom by applying math, science, history, and language to the maritime environment. Funding will be used to expand ASTAs scholarship and grant programs to make after school and out of school programs more accessible and affordable to youth in Maryland, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.Reed worked with Congressman Patrick Kennedy to secure funding. For more information contact: Peter Mello, Executive Director, (401) 846-1775