National Nonprofit Organization Recreational Boating Safety Grant Program

The mission of the National RBS Program is to ensure the public has a safe, secure, and enjoyable recreational boating experience by implementing programs designed to minimize the loss of life, personal injury, and property damage while cooperating with environmental and national security efforts via cooperative agreements to nonprofit organizations.

Applicants must be a nongovernmental organization. Applicants must be designated as a nonprofit organization with tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in accordance with 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3). Applicants must demonstrate the ability to provide recreational boating safety services via one of the definitions of national-in-scope published in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Applicants must demonstrate that one of their primary functions is to provide services to the public.

Applications are subjected to a merit review performed by subject matter experts (reviewers). Reviewers assess the applications for technical merit, personnel qualifications, and the degree to which a proposal offers potential value and measurements to program goals as stated in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Upon completion of the review, staff log the scores and prepares a ranking list, along with the recommended funding levels from the reviewers, for discussion and consideration. All recommendations are presented to the Boating Safety Branch and Division Chiefs for their review. The Office Chief then reviews and presents a recommendation to the Director of Inspections and Compliance for their review and ultimate approval. The Director of Inspections and Compliance has the authority to approve the awards. Once the Director of Inspections and Compliance determines the final funding levels, an approval memo is generated, co-signed, and kept as part of the official program file.