BOATING INFRASTRUCTURE.

SEC. 7404. BOATING INFRASTRUCTURE. (a) Purpose.— The purpose of this section is to provide funds to States for the development and maintenance of facilities for transient nontrailerable recreational vessels. (b) Survey.— Section 8 of the 1950 Act (16 U.S.C. 777g), as amended by section 6402, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: “(g) Surveys.— “(1) National framework.— Within 6 months after the date of enactment of the Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act of 1998, the Secretary, in consultation with the States, shall adopt a national framework for a public boat access needs assessment which may be used by States to conduct surveys to determine the adequacy, number, location, and quality of facilities providing access to recreational waters for all sizes of recreational boats. “(2) State surveys.— Within 18 months after such date of enactment, each State that agrees to conduct a public boat access needs survey following the recommended national framework shall report its findings to the Secretary for use in the development of a comprehensive national assessment of recreational boat access needs and facilities. “(3) Exception.— Paragraph (2) does not apply to a State if, within 18 months after such date of enactment, the Secretary certifies that the State has developed and is implementing a plan that ensures there are and will be public boat access adequate to meet the needs of recreational boaters on its waters. “(4) Funding.— A State that conducts a public boat access needs survey under paragraph (2) may fund the costs of conducting that assessment out of amounts allocated to it as funding dedicated to motorboat access to recreational waters under subsection (b)(1) of this section.”. (c) Plan.— Within 6 months after submitting a survey to the Secretary under section 8(g) of the Act entitled “An Act to provide that the United States shall aid the States in fish restoration and management projects, and for other purposes,” approved August 9, 1950 (16 U.S.C. 777g(g)), as added by subsection (b) of this section, a State may develop and submit to the Secretary a plan for the construction, renovation, and maintenance of facilities for transient nontrailerable recreational vessels, and access to those facilities, to meet the needs of nontrailerable recreational vessels operating on navigable waters in the State. (d) Grant Program.— (1) Matching grants.— The Secretary of the Interior shall obligate amounts made available under section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act entitled “An Act to provide that the United States112 STAT. 487shall aid the States in fish restoration and management projects, and for other purposes,” approved August 9, 1950, as amended by this Act, to make grants to any State to pay not more than 75 percent of the cost to a State of constructing, renovating, or maintaining facilities for transient nontrailerable recreational vessels. (2) Priorities.— In awarding grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to projects that— “(A) consist of the construction, renovation, or maintenance of facilities for transient nontrailerable recreational vessels in accordance with a plan submitted by a State under subsection (c); “(B) provide for public/private partnership efforts to develop, maintain, and operate facilities for transient nontrailerable recreational vessels; and “(C) propose innovative ways to increase the availability of facilities for transient nontrailerable recreational vessels. (e) Definitions.— For purposes of this section, the term— (1) “nontrailerable recreational vessel” means a recreational vessel 26 feet in length or longer— (A) operated primarily for pleasure; or (B) leased, rented, or chartered to another for the latter’s pleasure; (2) “facilities for transient nontrailerable recreational vessels” includes mooring buoys, day-docks, navigational aids, seasonal slips, safe harbors, or similar structures located on navigable waters, that are available to the general public (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior) and designed for temporary use by nontrailerable recreational vessels; and (3) “State” means each of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.