DEP Says Funds Available for Marine Pumpout Programs

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

"The success of pumpout programs for boaters has helped to improve the quality of Long Island Sound," said DEP Commissioner Daniel C. Esty.  "These new grant funds will allow us to continue those programs – as well to provide financial assistance to municipalities, small marine businesses and non-profit organizations along our shoreline.  Long Island Sound is a natural resource we must cherish and protection – and our pumpout program helps accomplish this goal.”

DEP is requesting grant proposals from owners and operators of public or private marine facilities that wish to install a new marine sewage disposal facilities (MSDF’s); facilities with an existing MSDF in need of substantial repairs or upgrades; or to obtain funding to operate a new or existing MSDF, including pumpout boats and central vacuum pumpout systems which are incorporated within the marina or boatyard dock system.

"We are grateful to our federal partners in this effort, but also to the owners and operators of public and private marine facilities and non-profit organizations who have participated in this program," Commissioner Esty said.  "Those groups have provided boaters with a convenient and affordable way to do the right thing by using pumpouts.  The efficiency of our pumpout program allowed Connecticut to obtain federal approval to declare our side of Long Island Sound a ‘no discharge zone’ where it is illegal to discharge sewage from a boat."

Funding for this program, known as the  Clean Vessel Act (CVA) program, 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 CVA Grant Program helps keep coastal waters clean and safe for recreation by safely disposing of millions of gallons of boaters’ sewage annually. The Connecticut CVA program serves as a good example to many other states and has been the recipient of numerous awards for its excellence.

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

The CVA program has awarded more than $10 million in grants since 1993 to fund more than 419projects, providing grants to small marine business owners, a valuable service to boaters, and providing improved water quality in Long Island Sound. It is DEP’s intent to continue funding for these facilities to further improve water quality in Long Island Sound and other boating destinations in Connecticut, including rivers and lakes in inland areas.

For a copy of the Request for Proposals (RFP), visit the DEP web page at www.ct.gov/dep/cva and click on "Grant Program Information" or contact Kate Hughes Brown, Grants and Outreach Coordinator, at (860) 424-3652 or by email at kate.brown@ct.gov.

Proposals must be received by 4:30 P.M. on Thursday, June 16, 2011 and should be submitted to DEP, Office of Long Island Sound Programs, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106-5127.