PA Environment Digest

The Fish and Boat Commission is encouraging local governments and nonprofit groups which are interested in providing or improving public boating facilities to apply for funding through the agency’s Boating Facilities Grant Program and the federal Clean Vessel Program.

“The (Boating Facilities Grants) program is designed to help local governments and eligible nonprofit groups, including land trusts, conservancies and watershed associations, to provide or improve public recreational boat access facilities in their communities,” said Dr. Douglas Austen, PFBC executive director. “Private businesses are not eligible for direct funding but are encouraged to partner with their local government for funding.”

Eligible activities include the rehabilitation, expansion or construction of new boat ramps, bulkheads, courtesy floats, access roads, parking areas, restrooms, signs and localized landscaping. Activities must benefit and directly support public recreational boating. Eligible projects must occur on public lands owned by the project sponsor, or where the sponsor has a long-term lease or agreement on the site.

The grant program will reimburse recipients for up to 75 percent of the costs for land acquisition, project design and engineering, development, expansion, and major rehabilitation. Funds are to be used only for major site improvements and not for routine maintenance or operation activities. Successful applicants must agree to provide a 25 percent grant match and be willing to enter into a long-term agreement to keep the facility open to free public use for its useful life.

The PFBC will give priority-funding consideration to applicants that provide more than the required 25 percent match, thereby reducing the total amount of grant funds required to complete the project.

The program is a reimbursable grant program. Grant funds will be disbursed to the recipient only after the project is completed and agency staff has verified that the work has been completed. Grant funds are derived from boat registration fees, state fuel taxes collected on fuel used in motorboats, and taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat fuel from the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program. General state funds are not used for the program.

The Fish and Boat Commission is also requesting applications from interested parties seeking funding under the Clean Vessel Act Program, a federal grant program administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that funds the construction, renovation, operation and maintenance of pump-out stations and waste reception facilities for recreational boats.

Applications must be submitted to the PFBC by December 1.

The PFBC is the only entity within Pennsylvania eligible to apply to the FWS for funding under the CVA program, and is looking for interested partners to utilize these funds. CVA funds are available to both public and private entities that meet program requirements. Reimbursements will occur only after final inspection and approval of the project by PFBC staff.

For more information about the CVA grant program, please visit the following websites or contact the CVA coordinator at 717-346-8196.

PFBC grant application forms and instructions and detailed information on the federal CVA grant program are available online.

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