portionment is made bears to the number of such persons in all the States. No State is permitted to receive less than one percent or more than five percent of the total amount apportioned. Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands can also be appropriated limited amounts of these revenues. National Recreational Boating Safety and Facilities Improvement Fund Overview The National Recreational Boating Safety and Facilities Improvement Fund ("Boating Safety Fund") was enacted on October 14, 1980 (P.L. 96-451) to provide a source of funding for Federal recreational boat safety and facilities improvement projects. Previously, all funds attributable to the excise taxes on gasoline and special motor fuels used in motorboats were transferred periodically into the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The 1980 Act provided financing for the Boating Safety Fund for fiscal years 1981 through 1983. The Highway Revenue Act of 1982 (Title V of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, P.L. 97-424) extended the Boating Safety Fund through fiscal year 1988, and increased the amounts to be transferred into the Fund (as indicated below). Financing source and expenditure purposes The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to pay into the Boating Safety Fund certain amounts equivalent to the motorboat fuels taxes received on or after October 1, 1980, and before October 1, 1988. The aggregate amount transferred during each fiscal year cannot exceed $45 million for fiscal years 1983 through 1988. Additionally, the maximum amount permitted to be held by the Fund at any time cannot exceed $45 million. Any excess motorboat fuels tax receipts are transferred into the Land and Water Conservation Fund, discussed below. Amounts in the Boating Safety Fund are available, as provided in appropriation acts, for carrying out the purposes of the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971 (46 U.Š.C. 1476). Under that Act, as amended in 1982 by the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, the Secretary of Transportation is provided with authority to contract with the States to implement and administer boating safety programs. Approval of specific elements of a State program by the Transportation Secretary is deemed to be a contractual obligation of the United States. Under section 26 of the Federal Boat Safety Act, the Secretary of Transportation may allocate and distribute amounts from the Fund to any State that has a State recreational boating safety and facilities improvement program if that program meets certain standards and the State provides matching funds. Currently, one-third of the revenue available for allocation and distribution is to be allocated for recreational boating safety programs and two-thirds is to be allocated for recreational boating facilities improvement programs. Available Boating Safety Fund amounts are allocated and distributed to the States for recreational boating safety programs and facilities improvement programs as follows: one-third allocated equally among eligible States; one-third allocated among eligible States who maintain an approved State vessel numbering system according to number of vessels; and one-third allocated to eligible States according to the amount of State funds expended or obligated for State boating safety programs or boating facility improvement programs. Financial status of the Fund Table 2 contains data on the Boating Safety Fund's actual receipts for fiscal year 1982 and as projected for fiscal years 1983 and 1984, as well as the Fund's balance at the end of each fiscal year. Table 2.-Amounts Available for Appropriation in the National Recreational Boating Safety and Facilities Improvement Fund [In millions of dollars] Land and Water Conservation Fund Overview On September 3, 1964, Congress enacted Public Law 88-578, which established the Land and Water Conservation Fund as a separate account in the Treasury, effective January 1, 1965. Present law (16 U.S.C. 4601-5) provides for deposit of the following amounts in the Fund: a. All proceeds (except those committed under other statutes), received from any disposal of surplus property and related personal property under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended; b. Amounts equivalent to the 9-cents-per-gallon taxes on gasoline and special motor fuels used in motorboats (to the extent these revenues exceed the amount transferred to the Boating Safety Fund); c. Revenues from Federal recreational fee collections (since January 1, 1981); d. Amounts necessary to make the income of the Fund not less than $900 million for fiscal year 1978 and for each fiscal year thereafter through September 30, 1989 (if appropriated); and e. To the extent that the appropriated sums are insufficient to make the total annual income of the Fund equivalent to the amounts stated above, the amount required to cover the remainder, from miscellaneous receipts under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). The general purposes of the Land and Water Conservation Fund are (1) to provide funds for and authorize Federal assistance to the States in planning, acquisition, and development of needed land and water areas and facilities, and (2) to provide funds for the Federal acquisition and development of certain lands and other areas. Monies in the Fund are available for expenditure as provided in appropriation acts. Not less than 40 percent of annual appropriations are to be used for Federal purposes; these include activities and programs of the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service. The remainder of funds appropriated are apportioned among the States on the basis of statutory formula and criteria. Financial status of the Fund Table 3 contains data on the Land and Water Conservation Fund's actual receipts for fiscal year 1982 and estimated receipts for fiscal years 1983 and 1984, as well as the Fund's balance at the end of the fiscal years. |