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Contact: Patricia Smith GRANT MONEY AVAILABLE FOR RECREATIONAL BOATING INFRASTRUCTURE MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting proposals for the Boating BIG is a program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that reimburses up to 75 percent of projects that provide docking and other facilities for recreational transient vessels that are at least 26 feet long. It was authorized by Congress in 1998 and is funded by excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat fuel. DMF serves as the liaison between projects in North Carolina and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the BIG program. Types of projects that could be funded include mooring buoys, day-docks, transient slips, safe harbor facilities (including temporary safe anchorage or a harbor of refuge during a storm), floating and fixed piers and breakwaters, dinghy docks, restrooms, retaining walls, bulkheads, dockside utilities, sewage pumpout stations, trash collections and recycling facilities, dockside electric, water and telephone capabilities, navigational aids and marine fueling stations. BIG funds are distributed each year. Grants are available on a two-tiered basis. For Tier I grants, all states get $100,000 per grant cycle as long as proposals meet the program's guidelines. Tier II projects are designated for larger, more expensive undertakings and are awarded on a nationwide competitive basis. This past year, Morehead City, New Bern and Plymouth competed successfully at the Tier II, national level. Morehead City received $504,000. New Bern received nearly $647,000. Plymouth received $106,000. The money enabled each town to help build transient boat slips near their downtowns. For information about grant availability, please visit the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ Web site, http://www.ncdmf.net/grants/BIG.html, or contact Kelly Price, federal aid coordinator for the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, at P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557-0769. You may also contact Price at (252) 808-8168 or 800-682-2632 (in North Carolina only). You may contact Price by e-mail at [email protected]. The deadline for applications to be received by the state Division of Marine Fisheries is Aug. 20. |