“These funds are vitally important to the health and economic well-being of our region, Delahunt said. “With state and local governments hard pressed to underwrite these community based initiatives, I am pleased that we were able to step in and get these important projects additional funding.”
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2009 will fund federal agency operations for Fiscal Year 2009. It includes the following appropriations bills: Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-State, Energy-Water, Foreign Operations, Interior, Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, Legislative Branch, Transportation-Treasury, and Veterans Administration-Housing and Urban Development.
Federal assistance in the omnibus bill for the South Shore, Cape Cod and the Islands includes:
Energy and Water –
$951,000 for the Hull Municipal Light Plant Offshore Wind Farm Project
951,000 for the Massachusetts Marine Renewable Energy Center, a partnership with
UMass, Nantucket and Edgartown to develop offshore marine renewable energy
$367,000 for maintenance dredging of Aunt Lydia’s Cove, Chatham
$10,717,000 for maintenance dredging of the Cape Cod Canal
Transportation and Housing and Urban Development -
$ 1.9 million for the Woods Hole, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard Steamship Authority Ferry Terminal at Oak Bluffs, Phase II
$ 700,000 to replace the Nantucket airport control tower at Nantucket Airport
$ 95,000 for the Cultural Coast Initiative, a heritage tourism project sponsored by local Chambers of Commerce
Interior -
$1.75 million for the Cape Cod National Seashore to acquire the North of Highland Campground
Labor, Health and Human Services -
$476,000 for Forsyth Oral Health project, which provides dental care for school children
$333,000 for Silent Spring Institute, research and education on the impact of environmental pollutants causing breast cancer and women’s health
$128,000 for Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, for its substance abuse and mental health services program
$143,000 for South Shore Regional Health Information/Quincy Medical Center project to development and deploy an electronic medical recordkeeping system.
Commerce, Science, and Justice -
$500,000 for the Right Whale Entanglement Program at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies
$500,000 for National Sheriff’s Association for its Iris biometric identification project.
$1.6 million for OJP Byrne Justice Assistance Grants for District Attorneysfor funding for the National Advocacy Center which provides vital training for local and national prosecutors in trial advocacy, specialized investigations and prosecutions, and prosecutorial ethics.
The omnibus spending measure will now be considered in the Senate before going to the President for his signature.
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