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 U.S. Department of Homeland Security US Coast Guard awarded the Executive Office of the Government of the Virgin Islands, Division of Fish & Wildlife, $867,136 under the Boating Safety Financial Assistance (CFDA 97.012) formula grant program on October 1, 2025. The award funds boating safety activities in the U.S. Virgin Islands through September 30, 2028.

Under the State Recreational Boating Safety Program, grant funds support facilities, equipment, and supplies for boating safety education and law enforcement, including purchase, operation, maintenance, and repair. The award also covers training personnel in boating safety skills and enforcement of boating safety regulations, providing public boating safety education through educational programs and lectures to the boating community and public school system, acquiring or repairing public access sites used primarily by recreational boaters, conducting boating safety inspections and marine casualty investigations, establishing and maintaining emergency and search and rescue facilities, establishing and maintaining waterway markers and aids to navigation, and providing vessel numbering and titling programs.

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.