Description
The Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program provides funding to States for the construction, renovation, and maintenance of boating infrastructure facilities for transient recreational vessels at least 26 feet long. The program aims to maintain, renovate, and increase boating infrastructure facilities dedicated to the use of transient recreational vessels. Eligible applicants are Governor-designated State agencies, and the program requires a minimum 25% non-Federal match. The program will fund projects such as boat slips, piers, mooring buoys, and other boating infrastructure facilities. The following are some key points about the program:
* The program is competitive, and applicants are encouraged to provide more than the minimum cost share required to increase their competitiveness.
* The program requires a minimum 25% non-Federal match, which can be met through cash or in-kind contributions.
* The program will fund projects that involve engineering, economic, environmental, historic, cultural, and feasibility studies, as well as other activities necessary for the planned construction of facilities for transient boaters.
* The program will not fund services or structures for food service, retail, or lodging.
* The program will fund restrooms and laundry facilities for boaters in transient recreational vessels 26 feet or greater in length, but costs must be prorated to account for any use by others.
* The program will fund parking lots and access roads adjacent to boating facilities for transient, recreational vessels, but only for repair, not new construction or renovation.
* The program encourages the use of Clean Vessel Act (CVA) funding for pumpouts and floating restrooms.
* The program requires that the Federal interest in BIG-funded real property be recorded, which attaches a notice to the deed that alerts interested parties that the property contains a project that was paid for in part with Federal funds.