NOAA Office of Response and Restoration

08/31/2026

Effective pollution response starts with strong fundamentals!

Join us at Gulf Response Alliance's inaugural GRA 2026 event in Austin, TX (Sept 28–30) for hands-on workshops and expert demos on oil spill response, Incident Command System basics, wildlife recovery, and more. OR&R experts will be presenting Spill Basics and Response Strategies, an abbreviated version of our Science of Oil Spills training. Learn more: https://blog.response.restoration.noaa.gov/new-training-opportunity-bringing-response-back-basics

08/20/2026

08/20/2026

A new school year brings new learning opportunities.

If you are a teacher, student, or family looking for new topics to explore together, the NOAA Marine Debris Program has education resources to help! Learning about the marine debris issue is an important part of minimizing it and ultimately, all together, stopping it. Whether you are a student or not, we can all be students of stewardship.

Learn about marine debris: https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/our-work/education

08/19/2026

To disperse or not to disperse?

When oil spills in water, chemical dispersants can be used under special circumstances to break oil slicks into smaller droplets for "oil-eating" microbes to digest. Deciding whether to apply chemical dispersants during an oil spill is a calculated measure aimed at minimizing overall environmental damage.

To ensure responders are armed with the best possible science, OR&R recently joined experts for a hands-on workshop at the Ohmsett testing facility in New Jersey, the nation's premier oil spill response test facility in New Jersey.

Learn how experts test response technologies under realistic ocean conditions: https://blog.response.restoration.noaa.gov/testing-waters-day-nations-largest-oil-spill-simulation-tank

08/06/2026

SPECIAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: We are pleased to announce a new marine debris funding opportunity is now open.

The Hurricane Response Marine Debris Removal Fund, a partnership between National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, is now accepting proposals through October 21, 2026. The program will fund up to $11M for projects that remove marine debris from coastal communities in Florida, Georgia, Guam, North Carolina, and South Carolina affected by the 2023 and 2024 hurricane and typhoon seasons.

Learn more about this funding opportunity: https://blog.marinedebris.noaa.gov/special-funding-opportunity-hurricane-response-marine-debris-removal-fund-2

07/27/2026

Exploring more than 30 years of habitat restoration across the country is now easier than ever with our updated interactive case map. Developed by NOAA’s Damage Assessment, Remediation and Restoration Program, this tool lets users search and explore more than 148 nationwide pollution cases and incidents—including oil spills, Superfund sites and vessel groundings.

Filter by state, region or case name to track assessment progress, view restoration efforts and access environmental data. Explore the updated case map: https://darrp.noaa.gov/oil-spills/explore-30-years-environmental-restoration-noaas-updated-case-map

07/16/2026

07/10/2026

When a container ship carrying hazardous materials was damaged in a Pacific storm, OR&R supported the multi-week response, providing critical chemical hazard assessments of cargo to protect marine safety and security teams.

Read our full quarterly recap: https://blog.response.restoration.noaa.gov/incident-responses-spring-2026

07/09/2026

🤿 Dive into Data!

OR&R launched the brand-new DIVER Environmental Data Catalog, making it easier to find and download NOAA-created data packages for natural resource damage assessments, restoration monitoring, and more, associated with hazardous waste releases, oil spills, marine debris, and vessel groundings!

🔵 Access regional, case, and project specific data packages for download and analysis
🔵 Query and download data directly in DIVER Explorer for further analysis
🔵 Explore related case specific information for legacy projects

📖 Explore what's new: https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/new-environmental-data-catalog-now-live-diver-website

07/09/2026

When a 265-foot fuel barge ran aground near a historic fortress in Puerto Rico this spring, OR&R supported the response and salvage operations with spill behavior guidance, coordinated weather forecasts, and environmental best practices to safeguard local wildlife and benthic habitats.

Catch up on the full quarterly recap of our emergency response efforts: https://blog.response.restoration.noaa.gov/incident-responses-spring-2026

Update 7/16/26: Corrected to reflect the USCG-reported vessel length of 265 feet.