[Federal Register: October 8, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 195)]
[Notices]
[Page 58120-58122]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08oc03-66]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[USCG-2003-16200]
National Boating Safety Activities: Funding for National
Nonprofit Public Service Organizations
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard seeks applications for fiscal year 2004 grants
and cooperative agreements from national, nongovernmental, nonprofit,
public service organizations. 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 October 8,
2003. Proposals for the fiscal year 2004 grant
[[Page 58121]]
cycle must be received before 3 p.m. eastern time, January 15, 2004.
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-2003-16200 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 nine project areas 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 to national,
nonprofit, public service organizations for national recreational
boating safety activities. It is anticipated that up to $2,950,000 will
be made available for fiscal year 2004. Thirty-two awards totaling
$2,994,500 were made in fiscal year 2003 ranging from $7,000 to
$370,000. 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 Director
of Operations Policy, 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 October 8, 2003. 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) grant 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 certain additional future support,
provided funds become available, the achieved results warrant further
support, and are in support of the needs of the government. Award of
continuation grants will be made on a strict case-by-case basis to
assist planning 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 year 2005
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 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 compliment the
Coast Guard ``You're In Command'' 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, safety and security issues, and the dangers
of carbon monoxide, as well as boating under the influence of alcohol
or a dangerous drug. 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 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 subject matter areas that afford the
participants professional development opportunities and educational
enhancement. Areas should focus on, but not be limited to: life jacket
wear, safety and security issues, the dangers of carbon monoxide,
boating education, vessel safety, as well as boating under the
influence of alcohol or a dangerous drug. Point of Contact: Ms. Jo
Calkin, (202) 267-0994.
3. State/Federal/Boating Organizations Cooperative Partnering
Efforts. The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to provide programs to
encourage greater participation and uniformity in 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. 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. Peter Eikenberry, (202) 267-6984.
5. Develop and Conduct Boating Accident 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 Reserve Training Center
in Yorktown, Virginia. Point of Contact: Mr. Rick Gipe, (202) 267-0985.
6. National Estimate of Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) Wear
Rate. The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop
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a statistically valid national estimate and evaluation of wear rates of
PFDs by recreational boaters. Wear rate should be determined by actual
observation of boaters rather than other means such as surveys. Point
of Contact: Mr. Peter Eikenberry, (202) 267-6894.
7. Recreational Boat Navigation Light Installation Practices. The
Coast Guard seeks a grantee to conduct a study of recreational boat
navigation light installation practices. This study shall include both
traditional incandescent and light emitting diode (LED) lights
installed in recreational boats and/or available for sale as after
market items. The study shall be focused on identifying issues related
to compliance with Rules of the Road, and particularly instances in
which the specific positioning of navigation lights may cause glare or
other effects that interfere with the operator's visibility. The study
shall identify instances in which compliance with Rules of the Road
lighting requirements may not serve to enhance the safety of
recreational boaters. The grantee shall make recommendations for
changes to recreational lights that will enhance safety. Point of
Contact: Mr. Richard Blackman, (202) 267-6810.
8. Recreational Boating Study/Survey Analysis. This project is a
multiple phase project, with the first phase already in progress. The
first phase of the project has been directed primarily at compiling and
reviewing boating studies and reports, categorizing and summarizing
research in a format that will encourage and facilitate its use by
boating businesses and agencies, and in developing Web-based mechanisms
to efficiently maintain this information (e.g., on-line boating
research tracking form, boating research discussion page). Web-based
tools are also being utilized to encourage research-related dialogue
and future research partnerships, identify recreational boating
research priorities and opportunities for multiple purpose studies, and
widely publish and disseminate the resulting literature review and
project deliverables. The second phase of the project will continue to
identify, compile and analyze boating studies. During the second phase,
more attention will be directed to encouraging dialogue focused on
identifying future research agendas for boating research, and
developing partnerships that will coordinate and make studies more
comparable (e.g., comparable definitions, sampling, definitions). For
example, instead of doing separate boating safety studies, safety
issues and behaviors could be incorporated into existing research
projects where appropriate. These subsequent efforts will also identify
and propose uniform definitions for boating-related terms and concepts,
along with other common research variables that will enhance the
potential of integration and comparability across recreational boating
studies. In the second phase of the project, grantee is to convene a
high-level symposium with representation from industry associations,
marine trade associations, state and federal boating agencies, and
university researchers to: establish boating research priorities,
identify ways to encourage integrated multiple-sponsor studies, and to
develop a funding strategy for encouraging and supporting these
initiatives. Point of Contact: Mr. Bruce Schmidt, (202) 267-0955.
9. Navigation Lighting On Barges. The Coast Guard seeks a grantee
to research and analyze the danger posed to recreational boaters by
barges, both under tow and being pushed, under the conditions of
reduced visibility. The grantee would provide recommendations for
additional lighting or other means to increase the visibility of the
barges. Any lighting recommendations must be consistent with Rule 20 of
the Navigation Rules (33 U.S.C. 2020), that is, additional lights
cannot be mistaken for the lights specified in the Rules and do not
impair their visibility or distinctive character. Point of Contact: Mr.
Rick Gipe, (202) 267-0985.
Potential grantees should focus on partnership, i.e., exploring
other sources, linkages, in-kind contributions, cost sharing, and
partnering with other organizations or corporations. We encourage
proposals addressing other boating safety concerns.
The Boating Safety Financial Assistance Program is listed in
section 20.005 of the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.
Dated: September 30, 2003.
Jeffrey J. Hathaway,
Rear Admiral, U. S. Coast Guard, Director of Operations Policy.
[FR Doc. 03-25418 Filed 10-7-03; 8:45 am]
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