[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 211 (Wednesday, November 2, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66453-66454]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-21857]



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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2005-22821]


National Boating Safety Activities: Funding for National 
Nonprofit Public Service Organizations

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of funds availability.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard seeks applications for fiscal year 2006 grants 
and cooperative agreements from national, nongovernmental, nonprofit 
public service organizations. The Boating Safety Financial Assistance 
Program is listed in section 97.012 of the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance. These grants and cooperative agreements would be used to 
fund projects on various subjects promoting recreational boating safety 
on the national level. This notice provides information about the grant 
and cooperative agreement application process and some of the subjects 
of particular interest to the Coast Guard.

DATES: Application packages may be obtained on or after November 1, 
2005. Proposals for the fiscal year 2006 grant cycle must be received 
before 3 p.m. Eastern time, January 23, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Application packages may be obtained by calling the Coast 
Guard Infoline at 800-368-5647. Submit proposals to: Commandant (G-OPB-
1), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW., Room 3100, 
Washington, DC 20593-0001. This notice is available from the Coast 
Guard Infoline and on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov in docket 
USCG-2005-22821 or at the Web site for the Office of Boating Safety at 
http://www.uscgboating.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Vickie Hartberger, Office of 
Boating Safety, U.S. Coast Guard (G-OPB-1/Room 3100), 2100 Second 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001; 202-267-0974. The points of 
contact for the seven project areas of particular interest are listed 
at the end of the description of each project area.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title 46, United States Code, Section 13103, 
allocates funds available from the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund for 
boating safety grants. The majority of funds are allocated to the 
States, and up to 5 percent of these funds may be distributed by the 
Coast Guard for grants and cooperative agreements for national 
recreational boating safety activities of national nonprofit public 
service organizations. It is anticipated that approximately $4,750,000 
will be made available for fiscal year 2006. Thirty-one awards totaling 
$2,950,000 were made in fiscal year 2005 ranging from $7,000 to 
$495,000. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as 
committing the Coast Guard to dividing available funds among qualified 
applicants or awarding any specified amount.
    It is anticipated that several awards will be made by the U.S. 
Coast Guard. Applicants must be national, nongovernmental, nonprofit 
public service organizations and must establish that their activities 
are, in fact, national in scope. An application package may be obtained 
by writing or calling the point of contact listed in ADDRESSES on or 
after November 1, 2005. The application package contains all necessary 
forms, an explanation of how the grant program is administered, and a 
checklist for submitting a grant application. Specific information on 
organization eligibility, proposal requirements, award procedures, and 
financial administration procedures may be obtained by contacting the 
person listed in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Prospective grantees may propose up to a 5-year grant with 12-month 
(fiscal year) increments. In effect, an award would be made for the 
first year and thereafter renewal is optional. Each annual increment 
would not be guaranteed. Under a continuation (multi-year) type of 
award, the Coast Guard agrees to support a grant project at a specific 
level of effort for a specified period of time, with a statement of 
intention to provide additional future support, provided funds are 
available, the project continues to support the needs of the 
government, and the achieved results warrant further support. Award of 
continuation grants will be made on a strict case-by-case basis to 
assist planning in certain large-scale projects and ensure continuity. 
Procedures also provide for awarding noncompetitive grants or 
cooperative agreements on a case-by-case basis. This authority is 
judiciously used to fund recurring annual projects or events which can 
only be carried out by one organization, and projects that present 
targets of opportunity for timely action on new or emerging program 
requirements or issues.
    The following list includes items of specific interest to the Coast 
Guard; however, potential applicants should not be constrained by the 
list. We welcome any initiative that supports the organizational 
objectives of the Recreational Boating Safety Program to save lives, 
reduce the number of boating accidents, injuries and property damage, 
and lower associated health care costs. Some project areas of 
continuing and particular interest for grant funding include the 
following:
    1. Develop and Conduct a National Annual Safe Boating Campaign. The 
Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop and conduct the 2007 National 
Annual Safe Boating Campaign that targets specific boater market 
segments and recreational boating safety topics. This year-round 
campaign must support the organizational objectives of the National 
Recreational Boating Safety Program and the nationwide grassroots 
activities of the many volunteer groups who coordinate local media 
events, education programs, and public awareness activities, as well as 
complement the Coast Guard ``You're In Command. Boat Responsibly!'' 
campaign. The major focus of the campaign will be to affect the 
behavior of all boaters with special focus on boat operators being 
responsible for their own safety as well as the safety of their 
passengers. A significant emphasis should be placed on life jacket 
wear, boater education, safety and security issues, propeller injury 
prevention, and the dangers of carbon monoxide, as well as boating 
under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Efforts will also be 
coordinated, year-round, with other national safety activities and 
special media events. Point of Contact: Ms. Jo Calkin, 202-267-0994.
    2. Develop and Conduct a National Recreational Boating Safety 
Outreach and Awareness Conference. The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to 
plan, implement, oversee, and conduct a National Recreational Boating 
Safety Outreach and Awareness Conference that supports the 
organizational objectives of the National Recreational Boating Safety 
Program. The overall conference focus should have promotional 
strategies with special focus on boat operators being responsible for 
their own safety as well as the safety of their passengers. Significant 
emphasis should be placed on offering multiple subjects that afford the 
participants professional development opportunities and educational 
enhancement. Subjects should focus on, but not be limited to: life 
jacket wear, safety and security issues, propeller injury prevention, 
the dangers of carbon monoxide, boater education, vessel safety, 
outreach and awareness efforts, as well as boating under the influence 
of alcohol or drugs. Point of Contact: Ms. Jo Calkin, 202-267-0994.

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    3. Federal/State Cooperative Partnering Efforts. The Coast Guard 
seeks a grantee to provide programs to encourage greater participation 
and uniformity in State boating safety efforts. Applicants would 
provide a forum to encourage greater uniformity of boating laws and 
regulations, reciprocity among jurisdictions, and closer cooperation 
and assistance in developing, administering, and enforcing Federal and 
State laws and regulations pertaining to boating safety. Point of 
Contact: Ms. Audrey Pickup, 202-267-0872.
    4. Develop and Conduct Boating Accident Investigation Seminars. The 
Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop, provide instructional material, 
and conduct training courses nationwide for boating accident 
investigators, including three courses at the U.S. Coast Guard's 
Maritime Law Enforcement Academy in Charleston, South Carolina. Point 
of Contact: Mr. Rick Gipe, 202-267-0985.
    5. National Estimate of Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) Wear 
Rate. The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop a statistically valid 
national estimate and evaluation of wear rates of PFDs by recreational 
boaters. Wear rates should be determined by actual observation of 
boaters. Point of Contact: Mr. Bruce Schmidt, 202-267-0955.
    6. Develop New National Boating Survey Instrument and Methodology. 
The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop, in liaison with multiple 
recreational boating interests, a new national boating survey 
instrument and methodology. This instrument and methodology are to be 
developed in consensus with various boating safety, boating industry 
and boating user groups, as well as Federal agencies and academia. In 
November 2004, a collective group met in East Lansing, Michigan to 
discuss boating research, and to recommend the highest priority actions 
that need to take place in the area of recreational boating research. 
This grant project is to respond to the recommendations provided by the 
November 2004 meeting by developing a survey instrument and methodology 
that will be implemented by the Coast Guard at a later date. Boating 
safety will be considered the main topic for the survey. The survey may 
include research on other recreational boating topics supported by 
other survey partners. Point of Contact: Mr. Barry Nobles, 202-267-
0986.
    7. Voluntary Standards Development Support. The Coast Guard seeks a 
grantee to carry out a program to encourage active participation by 
members of the public and other qualified persons in the development of 
technically sound voluntary safety standards for boats and associated 
equipment. Point of Contact: Mr. Rick Gipe, 202-267-0985.
    We encourage proposals addressing other boating safety concerns.
    Potential grantees should focus on partnership, e.g., exploring 
other sources, linkages, in-kind contributions, cost sharing, and 
partnering with other organizations or corporations. The primary goal 
of the National Recreational Boating Safety Program is to reduce 
fatalities to specific levels for each upcoming year. With your 
application, we encourage you to list and describe the tools you will 
use to measure your grant's performance toward achieving this goal or 
toward achieving a specific objective that will result in the 
achievement of this goal. For some examples of tools, we invite you to 
explore this CDC Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipe/pub-res/demonstr.htm.
    Please note: We published a Notice of availability for FY05 funds 
on October 6, 2004, 69 FR 59943. In that Notice, we stated that it 
would be the final year that our office would publish a notice of 
availability of funding for national nonprofit public service 
organizations in the Federal Register. We stated that, under Department 
of Homeland Security policy, we would announce future availability of 
funding electronically, at the Web site: www.grants.gov. Because the 
FY06 Notice of Funds Availability is not yet available on that website, 
we are publishing the information in the Federal Register again this 
year to provide information to the public in a timely manner.

    Dated: October 27, 2005.
Gary T. Blore,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Operations Policy.
[FR Doc. 05-21857 Filed 11-1-05; 8:45 am]
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