Boating Infrastructure Grant

Any public or private marina, boatyard, or state, county, or municipal park wishing to install or significantly upgrade their transient boater facilities is eligible. Facilities must also meet the following minimum criteria:

• Water depth must be at least 6 feet deep at low water
• Open to the public
• Able to accommodate boats 26 feet in length or greater
• Within two miles of a public pumpout facility
• Located on navigable waters

The department encourages local governments and private facilities to partner in this program by submitting joint grant requests.

• Mooring buoys
• Day-docks
• Navigational aids (channel markers, buoys, directional information)
• Transient slips (slips that boaters with nontrailerable recreational vessels occupy for no more than 10 consecutive days)
• Safe harbors for transients
• Floating docks and fixed piers
• Floating breakwaters
• Dinghy docks
• Restrooms
• Bulkheads
• Dockside utilities
• Pumpout stations
• Dockside electric service and water supplies

The Fish & Wildlife Department administers the Boating Infrasturcture Grant program in Vermont. All applicants must call the department at (802) 828-1000 prior to starting an application to ensure project eligibility and obtain the most up-to-date information on funding and the application process.

You can also email Mike Wichrowski for more information about the application process.

Applications can be submitted at any time. However, the application deadline is August 15 or the following Monday if the 15th is a Saturday or Sunday. At this time all applications submitted throughout the year are reviewed, scored, and submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, typically by the end of the calendar year.

There are two levels of funding.

• Tier 1 –The department, as the administering entity for the Boating Infrastructure Grant program, can apply for up to $100,000 in non-competitive grant funding with eligible projects.
• Tier 2 – The department can also apply for additional funding under a nationally competitive grant application process. The Tier 2 proposals are typically for larger projects, sometimes over $1,000,000, but there is no minimum amount for the grant request.

All funds are awarded to the Fish & Wildlife Department as the administering entity for the Boating Infrastructure Grant program. The department is generally notified by January of grant awards, and will in turn notify all applicants of their application status.

Awarded federal funds can be used to reimburse up to 75 percent of the approved project costs. The remaining matching funds must come from the grant recipient or their partners.

The Boating Infrastructure Grant program is funded through the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act, which is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The funds come from a federal excise tax on fishing equipment, trolling motors, import duties on boats, and motorboat fuels.

Under the Boating Infrastructure Grant program there is no specific requirement on what marinas can charge for their slips. However, it must be reasonable and competitive with other marinas in the area.

Transient boaters cannot stay longer than 10 consecutive days.