Federal grant programs / Department of the Interior

Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act (15.622)

Also known as Boating Infrastructure Grants (BIG)

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$38.3 million
• Grant awards141
• Typical award$200,000
• Awarded in FY 2025$1.8 million
• Size rank1110 of 1824
• Type of assistanceProject grants (discretionary)

Key findings

• Annual funding fell from $10.5 million in fiscal 2021 to $1.8 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 1110th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 125% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 26 states and territories.

What the program funds

This program provides funding to States, the District of Columbia, Commonwealths, and territories for the construction, renovation, and maintenance of docking, mooring, and other facilities for transient, recreational boats 26 feet or greater in length.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

Agencies from the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa may submit grant proposals to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

What the money can and cannot pay for

This program authorizes matching funds on a competitive basis for constructing, renovating, or maintaining docking, mooring, and other facilities for transient, recreational boats 26 feet or more in length and to produce and distribute information and educational materials about the program. Prohibited activities include: law enforcement, activities for the benefit of boats less than 26 feet, and any activity that does not provide public benefits. For further information, please contact the regional office. ;

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. The annual program funding comes from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund. It and the Clean Vessel Act Program (15.616) receives a combined total of four percent of the funds in the Trust Fund. Trust funds are derived from excise taxes on fishing equipment, motorboat and small engine fuels, import duties, and interest accrued by the fund. The Federal share of the project costs cannot exceed 75 percent for the 50 States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. The first $200,000 of match must be waived for the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and the territories of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

Tier 1 grants are $200,000 or less and average $182,234; Tier 2 range from $100,000 to $1,500,000; Average $1,048,261.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2025: Program funded projects that included construction of tie-up facilities for nontrailerable, recreational vessels of 26 feet or greater in length; development of amenities for eligible boaters, such as restrooms or other facilities; development of utilities or other services for eligible vessels.Fiscal Year2026: Program has not finalized projects for funding. Program anticipates funding projects that include construction of tie-up facilities for nontrailerable, recreational vessels of 26 feet or greater in length; development of amenities for eligible boaters, such as restrooms or other facilities; development of utilities or other services for eligible vessels.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Almost all of the money went to state and local governments.

By state

12 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.