Boating Safety Financial Assistance

The Department of Homeland Security US Coast Guard administers the Boating Safety Financial Assistance program (CFDA 20.005), which has not awarded grants since July 31, 2003—over 23 years ago. No recent grant opportunities are posted.

The program funds boating safety initiatives including state-wide safety programs, accident analysis and investigation seminars, personal watercraft safety research, boating education and instructor training, life jacket and personal flotation device studies, vessel safety checks, carbon monoxide and electrocution hazard workshops, and paddlesport and angler-focused safety interventions. Recent awards also supported national boating safety test development, safe boating education summits, web resources, and partnering grants with national boating safety councils and local water safety organizations.

All 153 grants in the portfolio are Formula Grants, exclusively funded by the US Coast Guard. The program obligated $106.9 million in federal dollars across these awards, with recipients providing an additional $434.3 million in non-federal cost-share, for a combined total of $541.2 million.

Award activity was concentrated in 2002–2003: 77 awards in 2002 and 75 in 2003, with only 1 award in 2001. Recent grants ranged from $7,000 to $439,000, though the largest awards were state-wide boating safety program grants exceeding $36 million (Formula Grant 130112, awarded April 22, 2003). Representative smaller awards included the National Safe Boating Test at $216,000 (July 31, 2003), the NASBLA Recreational Boating Safety Partnering Grant at $439,000 (July 31, 2003), and an International Boating & Water Safety Summit for 2004 at $82,000 (July 31, 2003).

This program is inactive. No grant opportunities have been solicited in over two decades, and no new awards are visible in the federal grants ecosystem.