Office of Insular Affairs Announces $5,218,185 Million to Support the Republic of the Marshall Islands in Fiscal Year 2023

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs has announced $5,218,185 in fiscal year 2023 Technical Assistance Program (TAP) grant funding that will go towards supporting programs and projects to benefit the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) through local governments, a non-profit organization, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

“We are very pleased to support several outer atoll populations with solar and water projects that will help improve lives,” said Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen G. Cantor. “We are also providing funds to the U.S. Department of Energy as called for by Congress to monitor groundwater at Runit Dome and the Four Atoll Healthcare program, both of which are related to the nuclear legacy that we share with the Marshall Islands.”  

Projects and programs funded through TAP for the benefit of the RMI are as follow:  

• $2,240,225 to RMI National Government for Four Atoll Healthcare program; 
• $200,000 to the RMI Love Animals (Iakwe Menin Mour) for the Majuro SNIP project to manage the feral dog population on Majuro;  
• $200,000 to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the Majuro Atoll Hydraulic Modeling Refinement Support project;    
• $150,000 to Aur Atoll Local Government for the Community Solar Energy Enhancement project;  
• $137,820 to Ailinglaplap Atoll Local Government for the Ailinglaplap Water Catchment project;  
• $111,777 to the Ebon Atoll Local Government for the Ebon Teacher Housing project;  
• $96,000 to Wotho Atoll Local Government for the Wotho Atoll Solar project; and  
• $82,363 to the RMI Environmental Protection Authority for the Water Quality Monitoring Laboratory program.  

An additional $2,000,000 in TAP funding was provided to the DOE as required under Public Law 112-149, the Insular Areas Act of 2011, which directs, among other things, that DOE perform periodic radiochemical analyses of the groundwater surrounding and in the Cactus Crater Containment Structure commonly known as “Runit Dome” in Enewetak Atoll in the RMI and to report to Congress on its findings. The overall objective of this project, which remains the responsibility of DOE, is to develop and implement a long-term groundwater monitoring program for Runit Dome.  

More information about OIA and its work can be found on www.doi.gov/oia, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. 

The Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs and the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, OIA administers and oversees federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. OIA also administers a discretionary Technical Assistance Program for all the Insular Areas. 

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