U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall announced $12.26 million in grants to 32 states for their efforts to provide recreational boaters with additional sewage pumpout facilities. The grants assist state programs for both inland and coastal waters and are awarded through the Service’s Clean Vessel Act grant program. The Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund – supported by excise taxes paid on certain fishing equipment and boat fuels taxes – funds the program.
“Boaters value clean, healthy waters and this program helps achieve that goal,” said Hall. “The program provides an essential service to boaters and allows our state partners to meet an increasing demand for pumpout facilities.”
Seven states in the Service’s Midwest Region received more than $637,000 in grants.
The Clean Vessel Act grant program helps states ensure proper disposal of millions of gallons of boater waste. For example, the program provided for the proper disposal of three million gallons of sewage from Massachusetts last summer alone. Since the early 1990s, the program has awarded more than $120 million to states for their Clean Vessel Act programs.
Clean Vessel Act awards and recipients in the Midwest Region are:
Illinois - $50,000- The state plans to construct up to five sewage pumpout facilities at private marinas in its inland waters.
Indiana - $104,458- The state plans to construct four sewage pumpout stations throughout the state and to continue its education program for recreational boaters. Two of the new stations are proposed for either the Ohio River or Lake Michigan waters.
Michigan - $200,000- The state plans to install as many as ten sewage pumpout stations at private marinas throughout the Great Lakes. Additionally, the state plans to continue its educational program for recreational boaters.
Minnesota - $29,206- The state plans to install a new sewage pumpout station on the St. Croix River in Washington County.
Missouri - $36,000- The state plans to install three new sewage pumpout facilities throughout the state and to continue its effort to inform recreational boaters about the importance of proper sewage disposal.
Ohio - $173,224- The state plans to install two new sewage pumpout facilities. One is planned for the Chagrin River near the town of Eastlake and one is planned for a marina on Lake Erie near Cleveland. The state will also continue its efforts to educate boaters about the importance of proper sewage disposal.
Wisconsin - $45,000- The state plans to install three sewage pumpout facilities on inland waters and the Great Lakes with the program awards.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
