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Boating Infrastructure Grants

BIG Program Funds Construction of Docks and Marine Facilities

Feb 14, 2008 Alan Sorum

The Boating Infrastructure Grant Program was first authorized in 1998 and has made more than $32 million available to States for qualified boating facility projects.

Recently the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USF&WS) awarded $13.5 million in grants to improve boating infrastructure in 15 states. Called the BIG or Boating Infrastructure Grant Program, USF&WS distributes funds collected from boaters in excise taxes on fishing equipment and fuel through the Sport Fishing and Boating Trust Fund. Funding will support construction of docks, boat slips, and other marine facilities.

In a press release, Interior Secretary Kempthorne states, "The Boating Infrastructure Grant program expands opportunities for recreational boating while strengthening a community's ties to the water. Although it is funded by boaters, this program benefits the entire community by helping local economies, helping people connect with nature and improving public safety."

BIG Program Funding - Funds from this program are meant to improve infrastructure for transient boats over 26 feet in length that cannot be trailered. These craft represent four percent of the some 600,000 boats registered in the United States.

Employees from the USF&WS and the federally sponsored Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council meet to review project proposals submitted from the states. Funds can be used for transient boat slips, harbor safety facilities, floating and fixed piers, mooring bays, restrooms, retaining walls, bulkheads and dockside utilities.

Representative Boating Infrastructure Grant Projects - These are few examples of state projects currently approved for funding under BIG:

Alabama - Construction of nine slips for visiting vessels and a fuel pier
California - Installation of dockage for 22 transient boats as part of a rehabilitation project at San Francisco's Piers
Florida - Funding for utility improvements to 78 visiting boat slips at the Metropolitan Marina
Michigan - Construction of 30 mooring slips for transient boats at the planned Peshawbestown Marina located in the Grand Traverse Bay
North Carolina - Installation of 900 linear feet of docking space for transient vessels in the Town of Bellhaven
Virginia - Replacement of deteriorating docks found at the Waterside Marine in Norfolk

The Boating Infrastructure Grant Program was first authorized in 1998 and has made more than $32 million available to States and Territories for qualified boating facility projects. This is a great program for local marinas to consider in development of transient mooring facilities.

States can receive Tier I funds of $100,000 for projects during each grant cycle and Tier II funding for more expensive efforts are awarded on a competitive basis. Projects must be designed to last at least twenty years, be accessible by the public, and properly maintained.

The copyright of the article Boating Infrastructure Grants in Boating & Sailing is owned by Alan Sorum. Permission to republish Boating Infrastructure Grants in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

New Mooring Slip Under Construction