SACRAMENTO — The Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) is accepting grant applications for the Clean Vessel Act Education and Outreach Grant Program. A maximum of $330,000 of federal funding per targeted region is available to organizations for educating Southern California coastal and San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary boaters about proper vessel sewage disposal, the use of pumpout facilities and how to monitor pumpout stations in the identified regions. The deadline to submit applications is Monday, Oct. 12, before 10 a.m.
In 1992, Congress passed the Clean Vessel Act to help reduce pollution from vessel sewage discharges into U.S. waters. The grant program established by the Act serves as an important educational opportunity for all boaters on how to keep California’s waterways clean. Discharging sewage overboard creates environmental and human health problems. To reduce the negative impacts of discharging sewage overboard, all boaters are encouraged to use sewage management facilities, including pumpout stations, dump stations and mobile pumpout services.
The grant program targets two geographic regions of California:
San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary
Counties of:
- Alameda
- Contra Costa
- Marin
- Monterey
- Napa
- Sacramento
- San Francisco
- San Joaquin
- San Mateo
- Santa Clara
- Santa Cruz
- Solano
- Sonoma
Southern California Coast
Counties of:
- Los Angeles
- Orange
- San Diego
- San Luis Obispo
- Santa Barbara
- Ventura
As part of DBW’s commitment to provide clean, safe and enjoyable recreational boating in California, the division serves as the state grant coordinator. DBW will fund two grants (one for each targeted California geographic region that will develop and implement a 20-month Clean Vessel Act Education and Outreach Program for each of the two targeted geographic regions. Each regional grant must include: 1) education and outreach and 2) monitoring. Applications will be evaluated and ranked according to how each application proposal demonstrates comprehensive and proven methods for meeting grant program goals.
In the last grant cycle, some highlights and accomplishments included:
- Participation in six boating events and conducting of more than 10 clean boating seminars/presentations with more than 2,000 boaters that share clean boating practices to reduce boat sewage impacts.
- Distribution of more than 8,000 clean boating publications promoting sewage best management practices.
- Development and promotion of educational videos about sewage management.
- Distribution of more than 350 universal deck fitting adapter kits.
- Development and promotion of the first-in-the-nation, award-winning sewage pumpout Nav App (more than 12,200 downloads since March 2018). This app helps boaters locate nearby functioning sewage pumpout stations, dump stations and floating restrooms.
- Monitoring of 155 sewage pumpouts in 19 counties. Monitoring provides effective means to encourage better maintenance of and accountability for the pumpouts’ condition.
Information on the grant program, the current grant application, requirements and complete guidelines packet are available online or by request via email to Vivian.Matuk@coastal.ca.gov.
