Florida gets federal money for more pumpout stations

The US Department of the Interior is providing $14.6 million dollars to 28 states under the Clean Vessel Act grant program to fund the construction and installation of sewage pumpout facilities and floating restrooms, to purchase pumpout boats and provide educational programs for recreational boaters. Funding for the CVA program comes from the Sport Fishing and Boating Trust Fund, which is supported by excise taxes levied on certain fishing and boating equipment and boat fuels. Florida will receive over 1.8 million dollars from the fund. The money will go to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection which plans to install more than 29 dual purpose sewage pumpout-dump station facilities for inland and coastal waters. The agency will also continue its education and outreach efforts with boaters to stress the importance of proper sewage disposal. Since the program’s inception in the early 1990s, the program has awarded more than $163 million to states to install thousands of sewage pumpout stations. A number of states also have begun installing floating restrooms and pumpout stations in high use areas of lakes and coastal waters.