1625-0089 Statutory Authority

Authorizing Legislation
Title 46, Subtitle II, Part I, Chapter 131, §13102:State recreational boating safety programs
(a) To encourage greater State participation and uniformity in boating safety efforts, and
particularly to permit the States to assume the greater share of boating safety education,
assistance, and enforcement activities, the Secretary shall carry out a national recreational
boating safety program. Under this program, the Secretary shall make contracts with, and
allocate and distribute amounts to, eligible States to assist them in developing, carrying out, and
financing State recreational boating safety programs.
(b) The Secretary shall establish guidelines and standards for the program. In doing so, the
Secretary—
(1) shall consider, among other things, factors affecting recreational boating safety by
contributing to overcrowding and congestion of waterways, such as the increasing number of
recreational vessels operating on those waterways and their geographic distribution, the
availability and geographic distribution of recreational boating facilities in and among applying
States, and State marine casualty and fatality statistics for recreational vessels;
(2) shall consult with the Secretary of the Interior to minimize duplication with the purposes and
expenditures of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–4—460l–
11) the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act of 1950 (16 U.S.C. 777–777k), and with the
guidelines developed under those Acts; and
(3) shall maintain environmental standards consistent with the Coastal Zone Management Act of
1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451–1464) and other laws and policies of the United States intended to
safeguard the ecological and esthetic quality of the waters and wetlands of the United States.
(c) A State whose recreational boating safety program has been approved by the Secretary is
eligible for allocation and distribution of amounts under this chapter to assist that State in
developing, carrying out, and financing its program. Matching amounts shall be allocated and
distributed among eligible States by the Secretary as provided by section 13104 of this title.