Your Oregon State Marine Board - investing in boating access infrastructure that lasts generations
In 1962, the Marine Board's Boating Facilities Program was born as a result of the appropriation of federal gas tax dollars for facilities construction.
In 1985, the Oregon Legislature directed the Oregon Department of Transportation to ensure marine fuel tax revenue returns to the Marine Board for boating programs. In the same year, the Maintenance Assistance Program (MAP) was created to assist eligible facility owners with financial assistance to maintain basic boating services. The MAP program was created in response to reduced local government funding for operations and maintenance and the desire of the Marine Board to protect, preserve, and extend the useful life of facility grant projects.
The Marine Board is a funding mechanism (grants) for local, state, and federal waterway facility providers. The Marine Board does not own or operate any boating sites or facilities and instead, relies on willing partners to apply for grants to make needed improvements.
Boating Facility Grants are available to facility owners/operators of public boating access sites around the state to acquire, improve, and maintain boating facilities that serve recreational boaters. Typical boating improvements include launch ramps (for trailered motorized and hand-carried nonmotorized), boarding docks, parking lots, restrooms, temporary tie-up docks, and other services needed by boaters (pumpout/dump stations and floating restrooms). The facility owner/operators have a 25% funding match for Marine Board boating facility grants, which can come in the form of administration or in-kind and cash contributions.
The Marine Board receives no money from the state General Fund or Lottery dollars. Agency revenues come from a mix of state and federal sources, all of which come from user fees. State sources include registration fees and marine fuel taxes paid by owners of registered motorboats and sailboats 12 feet and longer. Other state revenue comes from Waterway Access Permit sales for owners/operators of nonmotorized boats 10 feet and longer). Federal sources include grants from the US Coast Guard for boating safety programs and the US Fish & Wildlife Service for boat waste facilities and short-term moorage.
The Boating Facilities Section creates a Six-Year plan based on boater and waterway facility manager's feedback to identify boating needs and then uses the plan to help prioritize grant funding recommendations to the Marine Board. The 2018-2024 Six-Year Plan identified nearly $214 million in facility needs! To put this in perspective, the program receives roughly $10 million a biennium.