DEM Accepting Grant Applications For Boat Pumpout Facilities Until July 6

News Release
RI Department of Environmental Management
235 Promenade St., Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 www.dem.ri.gov

For Release: June 8, 2009

Contact: Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402

DEM ACCEPTING GRANT APPLICATIONS FOR BOAT PUMPOUT FACILITIES UNTIL JULY 6

$300,000 in Federal Clean Vessel Act Funds is Now Available

[see link to application at bottom of page]

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management announces that it is now accepting applications from qualified public and private marinas, yacht clubs, and municipalities to construct, replace, retrofit, and maintain marine pumpout boats and land-based pumpout facilities. Up to $18,750 is available for each land-based facility grant, and up to $56,250 is available for each pumpout boat. Each type requires a 25 percent match. A total of $300,000 in US Fish and Wildlife Service Clean Vessel Act funds provided to DEM is available to be awarded through this grant round.

Boaters have been prohibited from discharging sewage into Rhode Island waters since 1998, when Rhode Island became the first state in the country to receive a statewide “no discharge” designation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Boat sewage can degrade water quality by introducing bacteria, pathogens, and chemicals, harmful to humans and marine life, and by introducing excess nutrients that stimulate algae blooms which deplete oxygen. Over the past 11 years, DEM has been educating boaters about the law, boosting efforts to enforce the law, and working to assure a sufficient number of pump-out facilities for boaters’ convenience.
To date, DEM has awarded more than $1 million in Clean Vessel Act funds for pump-out facilities to make it convenient for boaters to dispose of boat sewage properly. There are currently 15 pumpout boats and 47 land-side facilities available to boaters in Rhode Island waters. However, additional facilities are needed to serve the boats that use Rhode Island waters each year, including the approximately 40,000 registered in Rhode Island.

Applications for the current round of funding are available on DEM's website, www.dem.ri.gov, by clicking on “Topics,” then “Sewage Treatment,”, then “Marine Pumpouts.” They are also available at DEM's Office of Water Resources at 235 Promenade Street in Providence weekdays, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The deadline for submitting applications is July 6. DEM expects to announce selected projects and begin issuing grant agreements by the end of July.

For further information, contact Joseph Migliore at DEM's Office of Water Resources, at 222-3961 ext. 7258 or via e-mail at joseph.migliore@dem.ri.gov.