Funds Available for Pumpout Programs to Protect Long Island Sound

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection announced Monday that more than $1 million in federal funds are available for boat sewage disposal facilities—pumpout stations—on Long Island Sound for the 2012 boating season.

Department officials are requesting grant proposals from owners and operators of public or private marine facilities that wish to install new marine sewage disposal facilities or upgrade existing systems.

Funding for this program—known as the Clean Vessel Act—comes from the Sport Fishing and Boating Trust Fund, which is supported by excise taxes on certain fishing and boating equipment and boat fuels. The grant program helps keep coastal waters clean and safe for recreation by safely disposing of millions of gal of boaters’ sewage annually.

Up to 75% of the cost of an approved project may be reimbursed under the program; the purpose is to increase the availability of proper waste handling facilities for boaters, which will reduce the discharge of poorly treated or untreated sanitary wastes into the waters of Long Island Sound and its harbors.

The program has awarded more than $10 million in grants since 1993 to fund more than 419 projects. It is department officials’ intent to continue funding for these facilities to further improve water quality in Long Island Sound and other boating destinations in Connecticut.

Source: Department of Environmental Protection