F26AS00008_FY 2026 - Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act - Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Tier 1 | F26AS00008

Opportunity Information: Apply for F26AS00008

F26AS00008 (FY 2026) is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant opportunity under the Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act called the Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program, Tier 1. The program is designed to help states and territories improve boating infrastructure by providing cost-sharing funds to maintain, renovate, or build facilities that serve transient recreational boaters. The emphasis is on infrastructure and amenities that support recreational vessels that are at least 26 feet long and used primarily for pleasure (including vessels that are operated, leased, rented, or chartered for recreational purposes). A key eligibility condition tied to the program purpose is that the facility must serve transient users, meaning boats staying at the site for no more than 15 days, and the funded facilities must provide public access. Projects may take place at publicly or privately owned facilities as long as the public-access requirement is met.

Tier 1 funding can be used for a wide range of boating access and service improvements typically needed by larger transient vessels. Examples listed in the announcement include construction or renovation of boat slips and docks (such as piers, dinghy/courtesy docks, day docks, gangways), installation of mooring buoys, and development or upgrades to boater-support amenities like fuel stations, restrooms, showers, utilities, and laundry facilities. The program also recognizes the importance of safe navigation and secure facilities, so eligible work can include lighting and communications as well as navigational and informational features such as buoys, beacons, signals, markers, and signs, along with security-related features. In addition to physical infrastructure, the opportunity notes that administrative, coordination, and monitoring costs may be eligible when they support one or more BIG Tier 1 or Tier 2 awards, which can matter for agencies managing multiple sites or subawards.

The award structure is cost-sharing rather than fully federally funded. For FY 2026 BIG Tier 1, the maximum federal share (award ceiling) is $300,000 per award. Applicants must plan for at least a 25 percent non-federal match toward the total project cost, which can be provided by the recipient agency, a subrecipient, and/or another third party. In practice, this means the federal portion cannot exceed 75 percent of total project costs, and the budget needs to clearly document where the non-federal share will come from and how it will be tracked.

Eligibility to apply is limited and flows through designated government agencies rather than individual marinas, local governments, nonprofits, or private entities applying directly. Eligible applicants are the governor-designated agencies in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; the designated agencies for Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and the mayor-designated agency for the District of Columbia. Other organizations may still participate as partners or subrecipients (for example, a local port authority or a privately owned marina that meets public access and transient-use requirements), but they generally must work through the designated state or territorial applicant. The announcement points applicants to the BIG Program regulations at 50 CFR 86 for the full set of eligible and ineligible activities and participation requirements, which is important because those regulations govern details that are not fully enumerated in the brief opportunity synopsis.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant opportunity (Funding Instrument: Grant) categorized under Natural Resources and associated with CFDA/Assistance Listing 15.622. The funding opportunity number is F26AS00008, and the original closing date shown is October 27, 2025. Anyone unsure about whether their entity is the designated eligible applicant is directed to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (specifically the Regional Office of Conservation Investment contacts referenced in the announcement) before spending time preparing an application.

• The Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "F26AS00008_FY 2026 - Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act - Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Tier 1" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.622.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-08-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-10-27. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments.

Apply for F26AS00008

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