|
Boating
Facilities Program (BFP)
FAQ
Click on a question to see the answer.
1. What is the Boating Facilities Program?
Created in 1965 by voter Initiative 215, the
Boating Facilities Program offers grants to
help state and local governments provide facilities
for motorized recreational boating, including
support elements, on fresh and saltwater.
2. Where does the money
come from?
As described in the text of Initiative 215,
funding for the Boating Facilities Program
comes from monies "derived from existing motor
vehicle fuel taxes paid by purchases of fuel
used in watercraft and not reclaimed by them
as presently allowed by law."
3. What can Boating
Facilities Program grants be used for?
Grants may be used for land acquisition, planning,
and development/renovation. Grants that combine
acquisition with planning, or acquisition
with development/renovation, are also available.
Only projects that serve the transient recreational
boating public are eligible.
Acquisition grants fund
the purchase of land for development into
a public motorized recreational boating facility.
Planning grants fund the
architectural and engineering services necessary
to produce construction ready drawings. Master
plans and feasibility studies are not eligible.
Development grants fund
construction of in-water and upland support
elements of a motorized recreational boating
facility. Typical projects include ramps and
fixed hoists for launching, boarding floats,
moorage floats or buoys, parking and staging
areas, and restrooms.
4. Who
may apply?
Only public agencies legally authorized to
develop, operate, and maintain recreational
facilities are eligible for BFP grants. By
law, these include cities/towns, counties,
Native American Tribes, park and recreation
districts, port districts, public utility
districts, state agencies.
5. What are the deadlines?
6. Is there a planning
requirement?
Yes. The Recreation and Conservation Funding Board (RCFB) requires applicants to submit
a plan that includes several elements, including
goals and objectives, inventory, and a description
of the public involvement process used. The
plan must be accepted by the RCFB at least three
months before the meeting in which the applicant's
project is first considered for funding. Typically,
once accepted, the plan provides eligibility
to for up to six years from the date of adoption.
For more information please see our Planning
Polices manual (Manual #2), on our Documents
& Reports page under General Policies.
7. How do you decide
who receives a grant?
This program involves an open and highly competitive
process in which funding relies heavily on
an applicant's oral responses to a published
set of Recreation and Conservation Funding Board (RCFB) approved evaluation questions.
The applicant makes this presentation before
an advisory committee assembled by RCFB to
help prepare funding recommendations. The
committee, appointed by the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) Director, is
composed of government representatives and
citizen member recreationists. RCO staff presents
these recommendations to the RCFB for approval.
8. Are there any long-term
commitments for funded projects?
Yes. Perhaps the most significant is that
property acquired, developed, or renovated
with Boating Facilities Program assistance
must be retained for public outdoor recreation
use forever. Other commitments include ensuring
proper maintenance, facilitating audits, providing
for nondiscrimination, etc. Further information
may be found on our Documents & Reports
page in Funded Projects:
Policies & The Project Agreement (Manual #7).
9. May I attend a funding
decision meeting?
All evaluation and board meetings are open
to the public. The RCFB invites public
testimony during its project funding deliberations.
10. Explain some of
the funding rules.
Are there funding
limits?
Yes. The RCFB has established a maximum
grant request of $1 million for each application.
What is a matching
share?
Local agency project sponsors (see
#4 Who may apply?) must provide at least
25 percent of the resources needed to complete
the project. Availability of these resources,
called the applicant's matching share, must
be confirmed before project approval. Resources
used to match the state assistance may come
from a variety of sources, including: appropriations,
tax levies, bond issues, force account labor,
and donations (including land, cash, labor,
materials and equipment). Other RCFB administered
grant funds, such as the Land and Water
Conservation Fund, may not be used to match
these boating grants.
Explain reimbursements.
Project sponsors do not receive grant funds
at the time of funding approval. Rather,
reimbursement takes place after the sponsor
certifies that expenditures have been made.
To receive funds reserved for the project,
the sponsor then submits one or more billing
forms to the RCFB for payment.
What happens to unused
funds?
Any unused funds are either offered to the
next highest ranked project or held over
for the next grant cycle. Such funds may
become available for many reasons, including
an approved project using fewer dollars
than anticipated or a proposed land acquisition
where the applicant is unable to come to
terms with the seller.
How is overall funding
determined and what can we expect in the
future?
Funding for this program is based on a regular
survey of boaters conducted by the state
Dept. of Licensing. Recently, the amount
has been about $7 million for each two year
period. Funding is divided equally among
local and state agency applicants.
11. Where can I get
more information?
Continue to explore this web site, or click
on one of these links:
|
