[Federal Register: March 30, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 60)]
[Notices]
[Page 16297-16298]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30mr05-108]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[USCG-2005-20753]
Recreational Boating Safety Projects, Programs and Activities
Funded Under Provisions of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
Century; Accounting of
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: For each of 6 fiscal years starting in 1999, the
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century has made $5 million
available to the Secretary of Transportation for payment of Coast Guard
expenses for personnel and activities directly related to coordinating
and carrying out the national recreational boating safety program. This
notice is being published to satisfy a requirement of the Act that a
detailed accounting of the projects, programs, and activities funded
under the national recreational boating safety program provision of the
Act be published annually in the Federal Register. In this notice we
have specified the amount of monies the Coast Guard has committed,
obligated or expended during fiscal year 2004, as of September 30,
2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey N. Hoedt, Chief, Office of
Boating Safety, telephone 202-267-1077, fax 202-267-4285, or Mr. Phil
Cappel, Chief, Program Management Division, telephone 202-267-0988, fax
202-267-4285.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
Century became law on June 9, 1998 (Pub. L. 105-178; 112 Stat. 107).
The Act required that of the $5 million made available to carry out the
national recreational boating safety program each year, $2 million
shall be available only to ensure compliance with Chapter 43 of title
46, U.S. Code--Recreational Vessels. The responsibility to administer
these funds was delegated to the Commandant of the United States Coast
Guard. Subsection (c) of section 7405 of the Act directs that no funds
available to the Secretary under this subsection may be used to replace
funding traditionally provided through general appropriations, nor for
any purposes except those purposes authorized; namely, for personnel
and activities directly related to coordinating and carrying out the
national recreational boating safety program. Amounts made available
each fiscal year 1999 through 2004 shall remain available until
expended.
Use of these funds requires compliance with standard Federal
contracting rules with associated lead and processing times resulting
in a lag time between available funds and spending. The total
cumulative amount of fiscal year 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003
funding committed, obligated and/or expended for each activity was
shown in our notice published in the Federal Register (68 FR 74625) on
December 24, 2003. The total amount of funding, transferred to the
Coast Guard from the Aquatic Resources (Wallop-Breaux) Trust Fund,
committed, obligated and/or expended during fiscal year 2004 for each
activity is shown below.
Factory Visit Program: Funding was provided to continue the
national recreational boat factory visit program, initiated in January
2001. The factory visit program currently allows contractor personnel,
acting on behalf of the Coast Guard, to visit approximately 2,000
recreational boat manufacturers each year to inspect for compliance
with the Federal regulations, communicate with the manufacturers as to
why they need to comply with the Federal regulations, and educate them,
as necessary, on how to comply with the Federal regulations.
($1,875,826)
Boat Compliance Testing: Funding was provided for expansion of the
boat compliance testing program whereby new manually propelled and
outboard recreational boats are purchased in the open market and tested
for compliance with the Federal flotation standards. The expanded
program includes inboard/sterndrive boats and used boats. ($100,000)
Associated Equipment Compliance Testing: A contract was awarded to
buy recreational boat ``associated equipment'' (e.g., starters,
alternators, fuel pumps, and bilge pumps) and test this equipment for
compliance with Federal safety regulations. This new initiative
complements the boat compliance testing program. ($150,000)
New Recreational Boating Safety Associated Travel: Travel by
employees of the Office of Boating Safety was performed to carry out
additional recreational boating safety actions and to gather background
and planning information for new recreational boating safety
initiatives. ($5,404)
New Boat Manufacturer Handbook: A contract was awarded to reprint a
comprehensive and user-friendly handbook for distribution to new
recreational boat manufacturers. Included in the handbook are the
Federal regulations and plain language guidelines that help clarify
Federal requirements. The handbook is aimed at increasing the level of
new recreational boat manufacturer compliance with applicable Federal
regulations. ($26,220)
Articulated Mannequins/Computer Simulation Model: The objective of
this contracted program is to improve the safety of recreational
boaters by fostering developmental technology for improved personal
flotation devices (PFDs). This program is furthering development of
flotation mannequins and a water forces computer simulation program to
promote the rapid, objective evaluation of different PFD designs on
various body types that are representative of the recreational boating
population. The computer simulation program will be validated through
the use of a family of anthropomorphic, articulated mannequins. Under
the contract to develop the articulated mannequins and computer
simulation model, a male model has been built and is almost perfected.
Currently, a female and a child mannequin are being developed. The
development of a computer simulation program will facilitate
[[Page 16298]]
evaluation of the effectiveness of new and unique PFD designs.
($495,034)
Carbon Monoxide Research: Under a Memorandum of Agreement between
the Office of Boating Safety and the Department of Health and Human
Services, U.S. Public Health Service, Federal Occupational Health
Program, funding was provided to continue investigation into
identifying and classifying additional recreational boating carbon
monoxide related deaths and injuries. ($100,000)
Fuel Cell Development: Funding was provided to explore the
possibility of transferring fuel cell technology from land based units
to marine propulsion use. ($225,000)
Recreational Boating Safety (RBS) Outreach Program: Funding was
provided for this program which provides full marketing, media, public
information, and program strategy support to the RBS effort. The goal
is to coordinate the RBS outreach campaigns some of which include:
National Boating Under the Influence Campaign (BUI), You're in Command,
PFD Wear, Vessel Safety Check Program (VSC), Boating Safety Education
Courses, and other recreational boating safety issues on an as needed
basis. ($1,640,000)
Personnel Support: Funding was provided for personnel to support
the development of new regulations, to support new contracting
activities associated with the additional funding, and to monitor and
manage the contracts awarded. ($437,769)
A total of $20,844,160 of the $25,000,000 made available to the
Coast Guard through annual transfers of $5 million in fiscal years
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 has been committed, obligated or
expended as of September 30, 2003. Of the $5 million made available to
the Coast Guard in fiscal year 2004, $3,618,119 has been committed,
obligated or expended and an additional $1,437,134 of prior fiscal year
funds has been committed, obligated or expended, as of September 30,
2004. Therefore, a total of $25,899,413 of the $30,000,000 made
available to the Coast Guard through annual transfers of $5 million in
fiscal years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 has been committed,
obligated or expended as of September 30, 2004.
Dated: March 24, 2005.
James W. Underwood,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Operations Policy.
[FR Doc. 05-6308 Filed 3-29-05; 8:45 am]
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