1. What is the Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program?
BIG provides grants for transient moorage (tie-ups) serving recreational motorboats 26 feet and longer. The program is administered in Washington State by the Recreation and Conservation Funding Board (RCFB), in cooperation with U.S. Department of Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

2. Where does the money come from?
The Sportfishing and Boat Safety Act of 1998 was enacted June 9, 1998 as Public Law 105-178. The Act authorizes a competitive grant program for States to develop and maintain facilities for transient nontrailerable boats. The Act included $32 million in contract authority for BIG nationally.

3. What can BIG Program grants be used for?
In Washington, the program's goal is to provide funds to develop and maintain transient moorage (tie-ups) serving recreational boats 26 feet and larger. The provision of information about these tie-ups may also be funded.

There are two "tiers" of grant support. Tier 1 includes small-scale projects; up to $95,000 is available annually for each application. Tier 2 is for projects that request more than $100,000. Tier 2 projects compete nationally in a process managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

4. Who may apply?
Grants may be made to private operators of open-to-the-public boating facilities, municipal agencies (cities, towns, counties, etc.), state agencies (State Parks, DNR, Fish & Wildlife, etc.), and other government entities (Indian tribal governments, multi-state public agencies).

5. What are the deadlines?
Applications are generally due in the spring with successful proposals approved by the end of the year. Contact a grants manager for the latest information on workshops, application due dates, evaluation and Recreation and Conservation Funding Board (RCFB) meetings.

6. 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 written responses to a published set of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) approved evaluation questions. For Tier 1 projects, the responses are provided to an evaluation team comprised of volunteers from RCFB's Boating Facilities Program (BFP) Advisory Committee. This committee evaluates each proposal and provides a ranked listing to RFCB's board/Director for preliminary approval. RCFB then sends the approved listing to USFWS for final approval/funding.

For Tier 2 projects, RCFB's board/Director also provides preliminary approval (without team evaluation) before sending the listing to USFWS for final evaluation/funding in a national competition.

7. Are there any long-term commitments for funded projects.
Yes. Perhaps the most significant is that property or facilities funded with Boating Infrastructure assistance must be designed and built to be useable for at least 20 years. Also, RCFB has authority to review and approve any fees charged for use of transient facilities funded through BIG. Other commitments include ensuring proper maintenance of new developments/renovations, facilitating audits, providing for nondiscrimination, etc. For more information please contact a grants manager.

8. May I attend a funding decision meeting?
All evaluation and board meetings are open to the public. RCFB invites public testimony during its project funding deliberations.

9. Explain some of the funding rules.