The purpose of this section is to provide funds to States for the development and maintenance of facilities for transient nontrailerable recreational vessels.

Within 6 months after submitting a survey to the Secretary under section 777g(g) of this title, 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.

In awarding grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to projects that—

(1) Matching grants The Secretary of the Interior shall obligate amounts made available under section 777c(a)(4) [1] of this title 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.

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.

For purposes of this section, the term—

“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.

(Pub. L. 105–178, title VII, § 7404, June 9, 1998, 112 Stat. 486; Pub. L. 105–206, title IX, § 9012(c), July 22, 1998, 112 Stat. 864; Pub. L. 109–59, title X, § 10115, Aug. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 1928.)