The grants were awarded to the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council and the Massachusetts affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation.
Each group also matched their grants, totaling more than $3.1 million in funding for restoration projects in both states.
CRMC will use its funds to list potential shoreline adaptation projects in areas of the state identified as vulnerable.
The Massachusetts affiliate of the NWF plans to restore a 25,000-acre salt marsh by improving the marsh’s ability to drain water, removing invasive species and planting eelgrass to reduce erosion.
Twenty other states, including Maine and New Hampshire, also received funding.
The funding comes from the National Coastal Resilience Fund newly-created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a government-backed agency that works to protect and restore the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants and habitat.