[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 30, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16297-16298]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-6308]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2005-20753]


Recreational Boating Safety Projects, Programs and Activities 
Funded Under Provisions of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st 
Century; Accounting of

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: For each of 6 fiscal years starting in 1999, the 
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century has made $5 million 
available to the Secretary of Transportation for payment of Coast Guard 
expenses for personnel and activities directly related to coordinating 
and carrying out the national recreational boating safety program. This 
notice is being published to satisfy a requirement of the Act that a 
detailed accounting of the projects, programs, and activities funded 
under the national recreational boating safety program provision of the 
Act be published annually in the Federal Register. In this notice we 
have specified the amount of monies the Coast Guard has committed, 
obligated or expended during fiscal year 2004, as of September 30, 
2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey N. Hoedt, Chief, Office of 
Boating Safety, telephone 202-267-1077, fax 202-267-4285, or Mr. Phil 
Cappel, Chief, Program Management Division, telephone 202-267-0988, fax 
202-267-4285.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st 
Century became law on June 9, 1998 (Pub. L. 105-178; 112 Stat. 107). 
The Act required that of the $5 million made available to carry out the 
national recreational boating safety program each year, $2 million 
shall be available only to ensure compliance with Chapter 43 of title 
46, U.S. Code--Recreational Vessels. The responsibility to administer 
these funds was delegated to the Commandant of the United States Coast 
Guard. Subsection (c) of section 7405 of the Act directs that no funds 
available to the Secretary under this subsection may be used to replace 
funding traditionally provided through general appropriations, nor for 
any purposes except those purposes authorized; namely, for personnel 
and activities directly related to coordinating and carrying out the 
national recreational boating safety program. Amounts made available 
each fiscal year 1999 through 2004 shall remain available until 
expended.
    Use of these funds requires compliance with standard Federal 
contracting rules with associated lead and processing times resulting 
in a lag time between available funds and spending. The total 
cumulative amount of fiscal year 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 
funding committed, obligated and/or expended for each activity was 
shown in our notice published in the Federal Register (68 FR 74625) on 
December 24, 2003. The total amount of funding, transferred to the 
Coast Guard from the Aquatic Resources (Wallop-Breaux) Trust Fund, 
committed, obligated and/or expended during fiscal year 2004 for each 
activity is shown below.
    Factory Visit Program: Funding was provided to continue the 
national recreational boat factory visit program, initiated in January 
2001. The factory visit program currently allows contractor personnel, 
acting on behalf of the Coast Guard, to visit approximately 2,000 
recreational boat manufacturers each year to inspect for compliance 
with the Federal regulations, communicate with the manufacturers as to 
why they need to comply with the Federal regulations, and educate them, 
as necessary, on how to comply with the Federal regulations. 
($1,875,826)
    Boat Compliance Testing: Funding was provided for expansion of the 
boat compliance testing program whereby new manually propelled and 
outboard recreational boats are purchased in the open market and tested 
for compliance with the Federal flotation standards. The expanded 
program includes inboard/sterndrive boats and used boats. ($100,000)
    Associated Equipment Compliance Testing: A contract was awarded to 
buy recreational boat ``associated equipment'' (e.g., starters, 
alternators, fuel pumps, and bilge pumps) and test this equipment for 
compliance with Federal safety regulations. This new initiative 
complements the boat compliance testing program. ($150,000)
    New Recreational Boating Safety Associated Travel: Travel by 
employees of the Office of Boating Safety was performed to carry out 
additional recreational boating safety actions and to gather background 
and planning information for new recreational boating safety 
initiatives. ($5,404)
    New Boat Manufacturer Handbook: A contract was awarded to reprint a 
comprehensive and user-friendly handbook for distribution to new 
recreational boat manufacturers. Included in the handbook are the 
Federal regulations and plain language guidelines that help clarify 
Federal requirements. The handbook is aimed at increasing the level of 
new recreational boat manufacturer compliance with applicable Federal 
regulations. ($26,220)
    Articulated Mannequins/Computer Simulation Model: The objective of 
this contracted program is to improve the safety of recreational 
boaters by fostering developmental technology for improved personal 
flotation devices (PFDs). This program is furthering development of 
flotation mannequins and a water forces computer simulation program to 
promote the rapid, objective evaluation of different PFD designs on 
various body types that are representative of the recreational boating 
population. The computer simulation program will be validated through 
the use of a family of anthropomorphic, articulated mannequins. Under 
the contract to develop the articulated mannequins and computer 
simulation model, a male model has been built and is almost perfected. 
Currently, a female and a child mannequin are being developed. The 
development of a computer simulation program will facilitate

[[Page 16298]]

evaluation of the effectiveness of new and unique PFD designs. 
($495,034)
    Carbon Monoxide Research: Under a Memorandum of Agreement between 
the Office of Boating Safety and the Department of Health and Human 
Services, U.S. Public Health Service, Federal Occupational Health 
Program, funding was provided to continue investigation into 
identifying and classifying additional recreational boating carbon 
monoxide related deaths and injuries. ($100,000)
    Fuel Cell Development: Funding was provided to explore the 
possibility of transferring fuel cell technology from land based units 
to marine propulsion use. ($225,000)
    Recreational Boating Safety (RBS) Outreach Program: Funding was 
provided for this program which provides full marketing, media, public 
information, and program strategy support to the RBS effort. The goal 
is to coordinate the RBS outreach campaigns some of which include: 
National Boating Under the Influence Campaign (BUI), You're in Command, 
PFD Wear, Vessel Safety Check Program (VSC), Boating Safety Education 
Courses, and other recreational boating safety issues on an as needed 
basis. ($1,640,000)
    Personnel Support: Funding was provided for personnel to support 
the development of new regulations, to support new contracting 
activities associated with the additional funding, and to monitor and 
manage the contracts awarded. ($437,769)
    A total of $20,844,160 of the $25,000,000 made available to the 
Coast Guard through annual transfers of $5 million in fiscal years 
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 has been committed, obligated or 
expended as of September 30, 2003. Of the $5 million made available to 
the Coast Guard in fiscal year 2004, $3,618,119 has been committed, 
obligated or expended and an additional $1,437,134 of prior fiscal year 
funds has been committed, obligated or expended, as of September 30, 
2004. Therefore, a total of $25,899,413 of the $30,000,000 made 
available to the Coast Guard through annual transfers of $5 million in 
fiscal years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 has been committed, 
obligated or expended as of September 30, 2004.

    Dated: March 24, 2005.
James W. Underwood,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Operations Policy.
[FR Doc. 05-6308 Filed 3-29-05; 8:45 am]
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