[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 235 (Tuesday, December 8, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76297-76298]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30884]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2010-1066]


Recreational Boating Safety Projects, Programs, and Activities 
Funded Under Provisions of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st 
Century; Fiscal Year 2015

AGENCY: Coast Guard, Homeland Security.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In 1999, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 
made $5 million per year available for the payment of Coast Guard 
expenses for personnel and activities directly related to coordinating 
and carrying out the national recreational boating safety program. In 
2005, the law was amended, and the amount was increased to $5.5 
million. The Coast Guard is publishing this notice 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. This notice specifies the funding amounts the Coast 
Guard has committed, obligated, or expended during fiscal year 2015, as 
of September 30, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on this notice, call 
Jeff Ludwig, Regulations Development Manager, telephone 202-372-1061.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Purpose

    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. On September 
29, 2005, the Sportfishing and Recreational Boating Safety Amendments 
Act of 2005 was enacted (Public Law 109-74; 119 Stat. 2031). This Act 
increased the funds available to the national recreational boating 
safety program from $5 million to $5.5 million annually, and stated 
that ``not less than'' $2 million shall be available only to ensure 
compliance with Chapter 43 of Title 46, U.S. Code.
    These funds are available to the Secretary from the Sport Fish 
Restoration and Boating Trust Fund established under 26 U.S.C. 9504(a) 
for payment of Coast Guard expenses for personnel and activities 
directly related to coordinating and carrying out the national 
recreational boating safety program. Under 46 U.S.C. 13107(c), 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 
under 46 U.S.C. 13107(c) remain available during the two succeeding 
fiscal years. Any amount that is unexpended or unobligated at the end 
of the 3-year period during which it is available, shall be withdrawn 
by the Secretary and allocated to the States in addition to any other 
amounts available for allocation in the fiscal year in which they are 
withdrawn or the following fiscal year.
    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 amount of 
funding transferred to the Coast Guard from the Sport Fish Restoration 
and Boating Trust Fund and committed, obligated, and/or expended during 
fiscal year 2015 for each activity is shown below.

Specific Accounting of Funds

    Manufacturer Compliance Inspection Program/Boat Testing Program: 
Funding was provided to continue the national recreational boat 
compliance inspection program, initiated in January 2001. During the 
Fiscal Year contracted personnel, acting on behalf of the Coast Guard, 
visit recreational boat manufacturers, recreational boat dealers, and 
recreational boat shows to inspect for compliance with the Federal 
regulations. During the 2015 reporting

[[Page 76298]]

year, inspectors performed 350 factory visits, 218 dealer visits, and 
10 boat show visits resulting in 2,800 boats being inspected. Funding 
was also provided for testing of certain associated equipment and in-
water testing of atypical and used recreational boats for compliance 
with capacity and flotation standards. ($1,587,370). Additional 
expenditures regarding this topic that are accounted for in the topics 
below are Contract Personnel Support ($103,253), Reimbursable Salaries 
($143,222) and New Recreational Boating Safety Associated Travel 
($5,526). Collectively, these expenditures, along with other potential 
projects, are considered to be applicable to the legal requirement that 
``not less than'' $2 million be available to ensure compliance with 
Chapter 43 of Title 46, U.S. Code.
    Boating Accident Report Database (BARD) Web System: Funding was 
allocated to continue providing the BARD Web System, which enables 
reporting authorities in the 50 States, five U.S. Territories, and the 
District of Columbia to submit their accident reports electronically 
over a secure Internet connection. The system also enables the user 
community to generate statistical reports that show the frequency, 
nature, and severity of boating accidents. Funds supported system 
maintenance, development, and technical (hotline) support. ($367,332).
    Contract Personnel Support: Funding was provided for contract 
personnel to support the appropriate cost/benefit analyses for 
potential new regulations and to conduct general boating safety-related 
research and analysis and to assist the manufacturer compliance 
program. ($660,562).
    Boating Accident News Clipping Services: Funding was provided to 
continue to gather daily news stories of recreational boating accidents 
nationally for more real time accident information and to identify 
accidents that may involve regulatory non-compliances or safety 
defects. ($25,000).
    New Recreational Boating Safety Associated Travel: Funding was 
provided to facilitate travel by employees of the Boating Safety 
Division to carry out additional recreational boating safety actions 
and to gather background and planning information for new recreational 
boating safety initiatives. ($17,564).
    Recreational Boating Safety Outreach Initiatives: Funding was 
provided to produce signage promoting recreational boating safety at 
the U.S. Coast Guard's Douglas A. Munro Headquarters Building, and to 
provide appropriate recognition to select individuals for outstanding 
achievements in promoting boating safety. ($2,487).
    Reimbursable Salaries: Funding was provided to carry out the work 
as prescribed in 46 U.S.C. 13107(c) and as described herein. The first 
position was that of a professional mathematician/statistician to 
conduct necessary national surveys and studies on recreational boating 
activities as well as to serve as a liaison to other Federal agencies 
that are conducting boating surveys so that we can pool our resources 
and reduce costs. The second position was that of a Recreational 
Boating Safety Specialist/Marine Investigator with responsibilities 
that include overseeing and managing RBS projects related to carbon 
monoxide poisoning, propeller injury mitigation, and manufacturer 
compliance initiatives. The third position was that of a Legislative 
and Strategic Planning Manager, with responsibilities that include 
analyzing proposed and enacted legislation for RBS impacts, and 
managing the development and implementation of the National 
Recreational Boating Safety Program's strategic plan. The fourth 
position was that of a Division Administrative Assistant, with 
responsibilities that include providing administrative support for the 
Boating Safety Division. ($513,045).
    Technical Support and Analysis for the Recreational Boating Safety 
Program: The purpose of this contract is to obtain Contractor 
professional, technical, and management support for services relating 
to the national survey development, nonprofit grants grading 
assessments, and other analysis as needed for the enhancement of the 
administration of the National Recreational Boating Safety Program. 
Projects covered by the contract include statistical analyses of data 
collected in the 2012 National Recreational Boating Survey and research 
on the implications of the findings relative to boating safety and the 
National Recreational Boating Safety Program; a review of scientific 
literature covering various measures of risk exposure in other 
transportation related fields; support in designing the next National 
Recreational Boating Survey; and development of a web-based system for 
review of national nonprofit organization grant submissions. 
($130,847).
    Of the $5.5 million made available to the Coast Guard in fiscal 
year 2015, $2,120,466 has been committed, obligated, or expended and an 
additional $1,183,741 of prior fiscal year funds have been committed, 
obligated, or expended, as of September 30, 2015. The remainder of the 
FY14 and FY15 funds made available to the Coast Guard (approximately 
$5,132,275) may be retained for the allowable period for the National 
Recreational Boating Survey or transferred into the pool of money 
available for allocation through the state grant program.

Authority

    This notice is issued pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552 and 46 U.S.C. 
13107(c)(4).

    Dated: December 2, 2015.
V.B. Gifford,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Inspections & Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2015-30884 Filed 12-7-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 9110-04-P