The purpose of the state recreational boating safety program is to encourage greater state participation and uniformity in boating safety efforts, and particularly to permit the states to assume the…

The Department of Homeland Security US Coast Guard awarded the Georgia Department of Natural Resources $3.527 million on October 1, 2025, under the Boating Safety Financial Assistance program (CFDA 97.012) to support recreational boating safety activities across Georgia through September 30, 2028.

The award funds a range of boating safety initiatives, including facilities, equipment, and supplies for education and law enforcement; training personnel in boating safety and law enforcement skills; public boating safety education through programs and lectures; acquisition, construction, or repair of public access sites used primarily by recreational boaters; boating safety inspections and marine casualty investigations; establishment and maintenance of emergency and search and rescue facilities and services; establishment and maintenance of waterway markers and navigation aids; and state recreational vessel numbering and titling programs.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, a state environmental and natural resource management agency, receives this funding as the designated state recipient under the State Recreational Boating Safety Program, which operates on a formula basis. The program's purpose is to encourage greater state participation and uniformity in boating safety efforts by permitting states to assume a greater share of boating safety education, assistance, and enforcement activities.

The purpose of the state recreational boating safety program is to encourage greater state participation and uniformity in boating safety efforts, and particularly to permit the states to assume the greater share of boating safety education, assistance, and enforcement activities. Federal funds provided for a state's boating safety program may be used for any of the following expenses. 1. Providing facilities, equipment, and supplies for boating safety education and law enforcement, including purchase, operation, maintenance, and repair. 2. Training personnel in skills related to boating safety and to the enforcement of boating safety laws and regulations. 3. Providing public boating safety education, including educational programs and lectures, to the boating community and the public school system. 4. Acquiring, constructing, or repairing public access sites used primarily by recreational boaters. 5. Conducting boating safety inspections and marine casualty investigations. 6. Establishing and maintaining emergency or search and rescue facilities, and providing emergency or search and rescue assistance. 7. Establishing and maintaining waterway markers and other appropriate aids to navigation. 8. Providing state recreational vessel numbering and titling programs.