[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 210 (Tuesday, October 31, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63776-63778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-18265]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2006-26114]


National Boating Safety Activities: Funding for National 
Nonprofit Public Service Organizations

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of funds availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard seeks applications for fiscal year 2007 grants 
and cooperative agreements from national, nongovernmental, nonprofit 
public service organizations. The Boating Safety Financial Assistance 
Program is listed in section 97.012 of the Catalog of Federal Domestic

[[Page 63777]]

Assistance. These grants and cooperative agreements would be used to 
fund projects on various subjects promoting recreational boating safety 
on a national scope. This notice provides information about the grant 
and cooperative agreement application process and some of the subjects 
of particular interest to the Coast Guard.

DATES: Application packages may be obtained on or after November 1, 
2006. Proposals for the fiscal year 2007 grant cycle must be received 
before 3 p.m. Eastern time, January 22, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Application packages may be obtained by calling the Coast 
Guard at 202-372-1060. Submit proposals to: Commandant (G-PCB-1), U.S. 
Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW., Room 3100, 
Washington, DC 20593-0001. This notice is available from the Coast 
Guard and on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov in docket USCG-2006-
26114 or at the Web site for the Office of Boating Safety at http://www.uscgboating.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Vickie Hartberger, Office of 
Boating Safety, U.S. Coast Guard (G-PCB-1/ Room 3100), 2100 Second 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001; 202-372-1060; e-mail 
[email protected]. The points of contact for the seven 
project areas of particular interest are listed at the end of the 
description of each project area.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title 46, United States Code, Section 13103, 
allocates funds available from the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund for 
recreational boating safety grants. The majority of funds are allocated 
to the states, and up to 5 percent of these funds may be distributed by 
the Coast Guard for grants and cooperative agreements for national 
recreational boating safety activities of national nonprofit public 
service organizations. It is anticipated that approximately $5,400,000 
will be made available for fiscal year 2007. Thirty awards totaling 
$4,615,400 were made in fiscal year 2006, ranging from $10,000 to 
$550,000. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as 
committing the Coast Guard to dividing available funds among qualified 
applicants or awarding any specified amount.
    It is anticipated that several awards will be made by the U.S. 
Coast Guard. Applicants must be national, nongovernmental, nonprofit 
public service organizations and must establish that their activities 
are, in fact, national in scope. An application package may be obtained 
by writing or calling the point of contact listed in ADDRESSES on or 
after November 1, 2006. The application package contains all necessary 
forms, an explanation of how the grant program is administered, and a 
checklist for submitting a grant application. Specific information on 
organization eligibility, proposal requirements, award procedures, and 
financial administration procedures may be obtained by contacting the 
person listed in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Prospective grantees may propose up to a 5-year grant with 12-month 
(fiscal year) increments identified. In effect, an award would be made 
for the first year and thereafter renewal is optional. Each annual 
increment would not be guaranteed. Under a continuation (multi-year) 
type of award, the Coast Guard agrees to support a grant project at a 
specific level of effort for a specified period of time, with a 
statement of intention to provide additional future support, provided 
funds are available, the project continues to support the needs of the 
government, and the achieved results warrant further support. Award of 
continuation grants will be made on a strict case-by-case basis to 
assist planning in certain large scale projects and ensure continuity. 
Procedures also provide for awarding noncompetitive grants or 
cooperative agreements on a case-by-case basis. This authority is 
judiciously used to fund recurring annual projects or events which can 
only be carried out by one organization, and projects that present 
targets of opportunity for timely action on new or emerging program 
requirements or issues.
    The following list includes items of specific interest to the Coast 
Guard; however, potential applicants should not be constrained by the 
list. We welcome any initiative that supports the mission of the Coast 
Guard Office of Boating Safety that is to ensure the public has a safe, 
enjoyable and secure recreational boating experience by implementing 
programs that minimize the loss of life, personal injury, and property 
damage, and the goal of the Recreational Boating Safety Program which 
is achieving a reduction in recreational boating injuries and 
fatalities by:
     Improving the reliability of boating accident reporting, 
which assists in identifying causal factors that could then be 
addressed through education and/or regulation;
     Increasing Awareness of Safe Boating Practices;
     Increasing lifejacket wear;
     Decreasing the number of alcohol-related accidents;
     Increasing operator compliance with navigation rules;
     Increasing operator compliance with USCG safety equipment 
carriage requirements;
     Tracking completion of advanced boating education courses 
with the future goal of using this data to increase said training; or
     Tracking and increasing the number of National Association 
of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA)-approved boating safety 
education certificates issued annually.
    Some project areas of continuing and particular interest for grant 
funding include the following:
    1. Develop and Conduct a National Year-Round Safe Boating Campaign 
that focuses on providing support to address areas that have been 
identified through the Coast Guard's Strategic Planning Process. The 
Coast Guard seeks a grantee to plan, develop and implement a 2008 
National Safe Boating Campaign that promotes a concentrated effort to 
target specific boater market segments and recreational boating safety 
topics. This year-round campaign must coincide with the objectives of 
the National Recreational Boating Safety Program. The nationwide 
activities of this public awareness campaign should be based on the 
support of the volunteers and professional groups at the grassroots 
(local) level. Key to this collaborative effort is how it will 
complement the Coast Guard's national outreach initiatives. The major 
focus of the effort will be to modify the behavior of all boaters with 
special focus on boat operators being responsible for their own safety 
as well as the safety of their passengers. Significant emphasis should 
be placed on Personal Flotation Device (PFD) wear, boater education, 
safety and security issues, propeller injury prevention, and the 
dangers of carbon monoxide, as well as boating under the influence of 
alcohol or drugs. Efforts will also be coordinated, year-round, with 
other national safety initiatives and special media events.
    Point of Contact: Ms. Jo Calkin, 202-372-1065.
    2. Develop and Conduct a National Recreational Boating Safety 
Outreach and Awareness Conference. The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to 
plan, implement, oversee, and conduct a National Recreational Boating 
Safety Outreach and Awareness Conference that supports the 
organizational objectives of the National Recreational Boating Safety 
Program. The overall conference focus should have promotional 
strategies with special emphasis on boat operators being responsible 
for their own safety as well

[[Page 63778]]

as the safety of their passengers. Significant emphasis should be 
placed on offering multiple subjects that afford the participants 
professional development opportunities and educational enhancement. 
Subjects should focus on, but not be limited to: PFD wear, safety and 
security issues, propeller injury prevention, the dangers of carbon 
monoxide, boater education, vessel safety, outreach and awareness 
efforts, as well as boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
    Point of Contact: Ms. Jo Calkin, 202-372-1065.
    3. Federal/State Cooperative Partnering Efforts. The Coast Guard 
seeks a grantee to provide programs to measurably enhance uniformity 
and reciprocity in State boating safety laws/regulations and other 
state boating safety efforts. The grantee would provide a forum to 
encourage such uniformity and reciprocity among jurisdictions, and 
closer cooperation and assistance in developing, administering, and 
enforcing State laws and regulations pertaining to boating safety. The 
grantee would further provide a forum to encourage sufficient patrol 
and other activities to ensure adequate enforcement of state boating 
safety laws and regulations, provision of an adequate U.S. Coast Guard 
(USCG) recognized State boating safety education program, enhanced 
maintenance of USCG approved vessel numbering system and enhanced 
implementation of a USCG approved marine casualty reporting system. 
Point of Contact: Ms. Audrey Pickup, 202-372-1063.
    4. Develop and Conduct Boating Accident Investigation Seminars. The 
Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop, provide instructional material, 
and conduct training courses nationwide for boating accident 
investigators, including four courses at the U.S. Coast Guard's 
Maritime Law Enforcement Academy in Charleston, South Carolina. Point 
of Contact: Mr. Rick Gipe, 202-372-1074.
    5. National Estimate of Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) Wear 
Rate. The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to provide reliable and valid 
national estimates of personal flotation device (PFD or lifejacket) 
wear by recreational boaters. Wear rates of PFDs should be based on 
actual observations taken from a representative sample of boaters 
across a range of water venues that include lakes, rivers, and bays. It 
is essential that observation methods remain as close as possible to 
those used in previous years so the number of boats, types of boats, 
length of boats, operation and activity of boats, as well as the age 
and gender of the boaters observed remain consistent. Using the design 
of the National PFD Wear Rate Study as a base, a supplemental 
observational study is solicited to determine if PFD wear rates are 
higher in an area after the roll-out of the annual Safe Boating 
Campaign. The grantee shall conduct observations in areas around the 
country that have relatively high boating activity in the summer and 
therefore may be expected to have a reasonable level of activity to 
make conclusions about changes in wear rates more stable. Observation 
data for 2007 will be collected for inclusion in the baseline measure. 
In the summer of 2008, the post-campaign measurement will be conducted. 
Point of Contact: Mr. Bruce Schmidt, 202-372-1059.
    6. Voluntary Standards Development Support. The Coast Guard seeks a 
grantee to carry out a program to encourage active participation by 
members of the public and other qualified persons in the development of 
technically sound voluntary safety standards for boats and associated 
equipment. Point of Contact: Mr. Po Chang, 202-372-1075.
    7. PFD Wear Rate Strategy for Anglers. The Coast Guard seeks a 
grantee to develop and implement a national outreach and awareness 
strategy designed to raise the level of boating safety consciousness 
among anglers. This year-round strategic effort must support the 
organizational objectives of the National Recreational Boating Safety 
Program as well as have the capacity to be implemented into the Coast 
Guard national outreach initiatives. The major focus will be to 
specifically target the behavior of anglers while boating with a 
significant emphasis on their responsibility as boat operators to wear 
a lifejacket/PFD as well as ensure that all passengers do the same. 
Point of Contact: Ms. Jo Calkin, 202-372-1065.
    We encourage proposals addressing other boating safety concerns.
    Potential grantees should focus on partnership, e.g., exploring 
other sources, linkages, in-kind contributions, cost sharing, and 
partnering with other organizations or corporations. The primary goal 
of the National Recreational Boating Safety Program is to reduce 
fatalities to specific levels for each upcoming year. With your 
application, we encourage you to list and describe the tools you will 
use to measure your grant's performance toward achieving this goal or 
toward achieving a specific objective that will result in the 
achievement of this goal. For some examples of tools, we invite you to 
explore this CDC Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipe/ pub-res/
demonstr.htm.
    This announcement is available on the http://www.grants.gov Web 
site; we are also publishing the information in the Federal Register 
again this year to provide information to the public in a timely 
manner.

    Dated: October 20, 2006.
Brian M. Salerno,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Inspections and Compliance.
 [FR Doc. E6-18265 Filed 10-30-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P