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 Town of Plymouth
N.C. Boating Infrastructure Grant Program | What is the North Carolina BIG Program? The Boating Infrastructure Grant Program (BIG) is a federal grant program, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that provides funding to states for the construction, renovation, and maintenance of boating infrastructure facilities for transient recreational vessels at least 26 feet long that are operated, leased, rented, or chartered primarily for pleasure. You may propose to construct new boating infrastructure and supporting facilities where none existed before, or propose a major renovation to existing infrastructure. You may also propose facility maintenance activities if it directly benefits eligible users and is directly related to the proposed project. Boating infrastructure means the structures, equipment, accessories, and services that are necessary or desirable for a facility to accommodate eligible vessels. Transient vessels are those passing through or by a place, staying up to 15 days. Projects completed using BIG funds must provide public access, but may be publicly or privately owned. The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is the lead agency for BIG in North Carolina. Through partnerships with other state agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations, and private marinas, the division provides funding for transient boating infrastructure and amenities. | Examples of potentially eligible activities include, but are not limited to: - Boat slips, piers, mooring buoys, dinghy docks, gangways
- Restrooms, showers, laundry facilities
- Dockside utility services (water, electricity, Internet)
- Fuel stations
- Floating or fixed breakwaters, retaining walls, bulkheads
- Planning, permitting, engineering services
| Examples of ineligible activities include, but are not limited to:
- Commercial vessel infrastructure
- Tie-up facilities not open to the public
- Haul-out features
- Dry-land storage
- Law enforcement activities
- Acquisition of land or interest in land
- Services or structures for food, retail, lodging or facility administration
(exp. ship’s store and dockmaster’s office) | | The Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-178) established the Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program by amending the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 777g-l). Subsequent reauthorizations of the Act allow expenditures from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund and the continuation of the BIG Program. The monies within this Trust Fund are derived from excise taxes on fishing equipment, motorboat and small engine fuels, import duties, and interest earned on the Fund. |
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