Download Report

March 24, 2015
Chairman John Thune
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
254 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Ranking Member Bill Nelson
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
254 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Thune and Ranking Member Nelson:
On behalf of the Angling & Boating Alliance (Alliance), an ad hoc coalition of national
recreational boating, angling, outdoor recreation interests, conservation groups, and state boating
safety and natural resources agencies committed to the sustainable future of the Sport Fish
Restoration and Boating Trust Fund (Trust Fund), we write in support of the Trust Fund and our
commitment to its reauthorization.
The mission of the Alliance is to protect the Trust Fund, lead a national advocacy effort for the
Trust Fund’s reauthorization as part of the Federal Highway Bill during the 114th Congress, and
communicate the importance of the fund to the Administration. The Alliance has reached
consensus agreement on reauthorization priorities and statutory changes to ensure the Trust
Fund’s continued vitality and success as a “user pays, public benefits” program. Our
reauthorization priorities are reflected in the Manager’s Amendment to S. 834, the Sport Fish
Restoration and Boating Safety Act of 2015.
Since its inception, the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund has been the most
important program in the nation for fisheries management, conservation, boating safety, angler
and boating access and many other initiatives, providing for public access to our nation’s public
resources and waters and many other initiatives.
The Alliance strongly supports reauthorization and continuation of the Sport Fish Restoration
and Boating Trust Fund pursuant to Sections 9503, 9504, and 9506 of Title 26 U.S.C, including
all of its current funding sources. Additionally, we support policy changes to the Trust Fund as
outlined in S. 834, which are consistent with the Alliance’s reauthorization proposal.
If at any time you have any questions regarding the Alliance’s position regarding the
reauthorization of the Trust Fund, please do not hesitate to contact any of the member
Associations.
Respectfully,
Undersigned Members of the Angling and Boating Alliance:
American Sportfishing Association (ASA)
Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (AFWA)
Association of Marina Industries (AMI)
B.A.S.S.
Boat Owners Association of the United States (BoatU.S.)
Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF)
Marine Retailers Association of America (MRAA)
National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA)
National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA)
State Organization of Boating Access (SOBA)
Trout Unlimited (TU)
MARCH 2015 Coordinated Statement on Reauthorization of the
Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund
The Angling & Boating Alliance (Alliance) is an ad hoc coalition of national
recreational boating, angling, outdoor recreation interests, conservation groups, and
state boating safety and natural resources agencies committed to the sustainable
future of the Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund (“Trust Fund”). The
mission of the Alliance is to protect the Trust Fund, lead a national advocacy effort
for the Trust Fund’s reauthorization as part of the Federal Highway Bill during the
114th Congress, and communicate the importance of the fund to the
Administration. The Alliance has reached consensus agreement on reauthorization
priorities and statutory changes to ensure the Trust Fund’s continued vitality and
success as a “user pays, public benefits” program. Members of the Alliance Steering
Committee are:

American Sportfishing Association
(ASA)


Association of Fish & Wildlife
Agencies (AFWA)
Association of Marina Industries
(AMI)
B.A.S.S. LLC
Boat Owners Association of the
United States (BoatU.S.)
Congressional Sportsmen’s
Foundation (CSF)








Marine Retailers Association of
America (MRAA)
National Association of State
Boating Law Administrators
(NASBLA)
National Marine Manufacturers
Association (NMMA)
States Organization for Boating
Access (SOBA)
Trout Unlimited (TU)
About the Trust Fund
The Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund serves as the backbone for
fishery conservation funding in the United States - a uniquely American System of
Conservation Funding. It is a critical funding tool for a diverse set of important
state and national recreational fishing and boating programs, including recreational
boating safety, boat manufacturing compliance, fisheries management, habitat
conservation, vessel sewage pump-out stations, water and boating access
infrastructure programs, and aquatic resource education programs, among others.
Funding for the Trust Fund is attained through a “user tax” system, in which excise
duties on fishing tackle and equipment, motorboat fuel, and import duties on
recreational boats and fishing equipment are collected for the various sportfish
restoration programs and boating programs operating under the Dingell-Johnson
Sportfish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 777). These combined excise taxes and duties
on the boating and fishing communities generate around $600 million annually.
The Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund (originally created in 1950 and
amended and expanded in 1984) was most recently fully reauthorized in 2005 as
part of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A
Legacy for Users or "SAFETEA-LU" [Public Law 109-59, title XI, subtitle B, part 2,
section 11115, approved August 10, 2005,] as amended by the Sportfishing and
Recreational Boating Safety Amendments Act of 2005 [Public Law 109-74, approved
September 29, 2005]. The Trust Fund reauthorization was extended with no
changes as part of the 2009 Highway Bill and extended again in a 2012and 2014
action.
Angling & Boating Alliance Agreement
on Statutory Amendments to the Trust Fund
1. The Alliance strongly supports reauthorization and continuation of the Sport
Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund pursuant to Sections 9503, 9504, and
9506 of Title 26 U.S.C. Furthermore, the Alliance strongly supports the
continuation of transferring all fuel tax receipts generated from motorboats and
small engines into the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund.
2. Should there be an increase in the tax rate applicable to gasoline or a change in
how the gas tax is calculated, charged or paid the Alliance requests that the
transfer of the motorboat fuel tax and the small engine fuel tax to the Sport Fish
Restoration and Boating Trust Fund reflect such increase as Congress intended,
history has shown, and anglers and boaters expect.
3. Because the Trust Funds are a user pays – public benefits system derived from
anglers and boaters instead of federal income tax dollars, the Alliance strongly
supports permanently exempting the Trust Funds from federal budget
sequestration. These Trust Funds are the lifeblood of state fish and wildlife
agencies’ and boating administrators’ day-to-day operating budgets, and
sequestering these Trust Funds is a breach of trust between the anglers, boaters
and industries who pay the money and the federal government that withholds
the funds from states for their intended purpose.
4. To achieve additional Trust Fund parity, the Alliance agrees that the
administrative costs for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) should be a percent of the total revenues (receipts) to
the Trust Fund. Currently, the administrative cost for the Service is a hard cost
(with an annual CPI adjustment) off-the-top deduction from total receipts, while
the Coast Guard administrative cost is calculated at 2% of the Boating Safety
transfer.
5. The Alliance recommends that a new off-the-top deduction from Trust Fund total
receipts be established at a hard cost of $1,500,000 annually for the National
Recreational Boating Survey, and that the Multistate Conservation Grant
Program remain the same as existing statute.
6. To implement the parity concepts set forth in 4 and 5 above, the Alliance
recommends the following allocations. The results of this recommended
distribution for the FY2014 receipts of $624,891,134 are provided below with the
current status quo in parenthesis.
a. Fish and Wildlife Service Administration: 1.8468 percent of total annual
collections for an amount of $11,540,489 ($10,798,459);
b. Coast Guard Administration: 0.3435 percent of total annual collections for
an amount of $2,146,501 ($2,146,603);
c. Coastal Wetlands: percent increases slightly from 18.5 to 18.54 percent as
a result of the parity concepts set forth in 4 and 5 above and the
recommended distribution in 6 a and b above for an amount of
$112,260,468 ($112,830,144);
d. Recreational Boating Safety: 18.04 percent of funds remaining for
distribution for an amount of $109,232,948 but when combined with the
dollars for the boating survey and the CG administrative cost equals
$112,879,449 ($112,830,144);
e. Multistate Conservation Grant Program: remains consistent with current
statute at $3,000,000;
f. Clean Vessel Act, Boating Infrastructure Grants Program, and National
Outreach and Communications Program: continue to each get 2.0
percent of funds remaining for distribution for an amount each of
$12,110,083 ($12,197,854);
g. Sport Fish Restoration (SFR): 57.42 percent of funds remaining for
distribution for an amount of $347,680,479 ($347,638,825) to be
apportioned to the state fish and wildlife agencies consistent with current
statute.
Please see the attached new flow chart for additional clarity.
7. In recognition of the changing economic climate and the likelihood that
oscillations in revenues for the Trust Fund will continue, the Alliance agrees
that the annual administrative payments for both the USFWS and the USCG
should not only be a percentage of the total annual collections, but should also
have an established maximum amount available annually.
a. For the USFWS beginning in FY2015 the Alliance supports an annual
administrative payment of 1.8468 percent of total annual collections
($11,540,489 calculated from a baseline of FY14 revenue for the Trust
Fund of $624,891,134) and a maximum annual amount of not more than
$12,299,000 (achieved with total receipts of $665,962,746). The percent
and maximum annual amount are based on recent information from the
USFWS that it would take $11,540,382 to fund full operations of 105
people in FY2015 from each of the two accounts of Sport Fish Restoration
and Wildlife Restoration and that $12,299,000 would fund their desired
114 staff. Administrative costs for the small grant programs – Clean
Vessel, Outreach, BIG, and the USFWS Wetlands Conservation Grant
Program (15% of the Coastal Wetlands allocation) - should be 2.0 percent
of the respective program allocation (would be $1,063,386 for FY2015,
which is an 18.15% increase from the current $900,000).
b. For the USGC beginning in FY2015 the Alliance supports an annual
administrative payment of 0.3435 percent of total annual collections
($2,146,501 calculated from a baseline of FY14 revenue for the Trust
Fund of $624,891,134) with a maximum annual amount of not more than
$2,300,000 (achieved with total receipts of $669,577,875).
c. The Alliance further agrees that legislative amendments stipulate that
any administrative payment amounts that are not expended or obligated
in due time shall be made available for allocation to the States, as in
current statute.
8. The Alliance recommends that the USFWS annually evaluate and report on the
administrative services of the USFWS for the Trust Fund to the states, the
sportfishing community, and Congress which shall include the following
categories of information:
a. Grant administration, e.g., the percent of grant actions completed within
45 days of receipt, average number of days to process new grants, and
average number of days to process grant amendments;
b. Policy development, e.g., the percent of Wildlife and Sport Fish
Restoration policies for which an update was initiated or completed;
c. State capacity development, e.g., the number of federal assistance
workshops held with states and the number of state agency coordination
efforts on fiscal policies and procedures;
d. USFWS capacity and functional support, e.g., response time to states
based on initial notification or assistance requests initiated by a state and
the average frequency in fiscal reviews;
e. Audit Support information, e.g., where reconciliation of land records is
still needed;
f. Training needs and completions for USFWS staff and state fish and
wildlife agency staff;
g. Workforce utilization, e.g., the percent of regional office full-time
equivalents contributing to grant processing and related grant
management;
h. Post-award monitoring, e.g., in-field state project reviews and site visits;
and
i. Headquarter audit measures, e.g., the number of audits per year and
response time to related actions and correspondence.
9. The Alliance recommends that the USCG annually evaluate and report (including
financial) on the administrative services of the USCG for the boating components of the
Trust Fund. This evaluation and report will be made to the states, the boating
community, and Congress and shall include the following categories of information:
a. Grant administration, e.g., the percent of grant actions completed within 45
days of receipt, the average number of days to process new grants, and the
average number of days to process grant amendments;
b. State capacity development, e.g., the number of federal assistance workshops
held with states and the number of state agency coordination efforts on fiscal
policies and procedures;
c. USCG capacity and functional support, e.g., response time to states based on
initial notification or assistance requests initiated by a state and the average
frequency of fiscal reviews;
d. Training needs and completions for USCG staff and state boating agency staff;
e. Post-award monitoring, e.g., in-field state project reviews and site visits;
f. Headquarter audit measures, e.g., the number of audits per year and response
time to related actions and correspondence; and
g. Financial report on the use of administrative funds.
10. The Alliance, in recognition of the importance of recreational boating safety,
supports funding the National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC) as an
allowable cost, including travel, within the USCG National Program
Coordination allocation of $5,500,000.
11. The Alliance agrees that the federal/state match requirement for Recreational
Boating Safety (RBS) grants should be 75% federal funds and 25% state funds as
opposed to the current 50-50 required match. This aligns the match for boating
safety grants with the match required for Sport Fish Restoration. This change
should be accompanied by a statutory Maintenance of Effort clause in the
Recreational Boating Safety Program. At 75/25 and with the maintenance of
effort stipulation, this change provides a benefit only to the dozen or so states
that are unable to meet the match requirement at 50/50 and would allow these
states to fully use their federal fund allocations.
12. The Alliance, in recognition of the importance of the USCG Manufacturing
Compliance Program and anticipated increased future needs, supports
modifying the statutory minimum funding for the program from $2 million to
$2.5 million, authorizing an adequate number of FTEs for successful program
implementation, inspections, certifications and associated travel to domestic
recreational manufacturing facilities.
13. With respect to the USCG National Recreational Boating Survey (see # 5 above),
and consistent with NBSAC Resolution #2012-90-04, the Alliance supports
funding of $1.5 million annually, to be made available until expended, for this
survey to be conducted not more frequently than every three years. It is
expected that this direct funding allocation will be established as a new off-thetop deduction from Trust Fund total receipts and that the Coast Guard will be
able to conduct the national survey as either a grant or a contract award.
14. In recognition of new challenges and opportunities associated with access to
recreational water bodies and in awareness of new environmental requirements
in states across the nation, the Alliance agrees to allow (but not require) a
certain portion of Clean Vessel Act program dollars to be spent on a specific set
of capital improvement and infrastructure projects to support facilities that meet
state requirements for minimizing the introduction of pollutants into the
waterways, such as: power wash-down stations at ingresses to water bodies,
including marinas; containment & treatment stations at marinas; and other
such infrastructure projects. The Alliance agrees to a maximum allowance of not
more than 25% of state-apportioned CVA program dollars to be used for such
purposes.
15. The Coastal Wetlands Program (CWP) constitutes a significant part of the Sport Fish
Restoration and Boating Trust Fund at 18.5%. Coastal wetlands restoration and
conservation is vitally important to many communities as well as fish, wildlife and the
habitats on which they depend, but the habitat contributions produced by portions of
the CWP is not well understood among Trust Fund stakeholders outside of Louisiana.
For the 70% of the CWP funds that go to the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), the
Alliance recommends improving the transparency of the program. Specifically, we
recommend the USACE work with the federal agency project leads to include in its
report (currently required every three years under the Coastal Wetlands Planning,
Protection, and Restoration Act) how the program has improved the quality of fish and
wildlife habitat conditions. This information will increase transparency and
understanding of the multiple natural resource benefits derived from implementation of
the program to all Trust Fund stakeholders and fosters greater collaboration on coastal
wetlands conservation issues.