The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced Tuesday that during the 2015 boating season, pumpout facilities and pumpout vessel programs removed a record level of more than 1.2 million gallons of recreational marine sewage from vessels in Long Island Sound and Candlewood Lake.

“We reached our goal of removing more than 1 million gallons of sewage waste from recreational boats in 2015, and are looking forward to seeing strong numbers again as we near the end of the 2016 boating season and collect data from our program partners,” DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee said in a news release. “The goal is to build on this success to keep our waters clean and healthy, and to provide excellent water-based recreational opportunities in Connecticut.”

For the 2017 boating season, 48 marine facilities will receive more than $1.12 million in federal funding under DEEP’s annual Clean Vessel Act program, the agency announced.

In an effort to improve water quality in navigable waterways within Connecticut, this program, managed through DEEP’s Boating Division, provides federally funded matching grants for qualifying projects that provide boat sewage disposal facilities, more commonly known as pumpouts. Nine of the 48 grant recipients will receive funding for the construction of new or replacement pumpouts, including one new solar-electric pumpout vessel which will be manufactured by Pilot’s Point Marina here in Connecticut. The remaining projects fund operation and maintenance of land-based pumpouts and mobile pumpout boats, DEEP said.

Funding for the program is made available through the Federal Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, supported by federal excise taxes on certain fishing and boating equipment, import duties on boats and through boat fuels. DEEP partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to issue grants locally to marine facilities and programs. Each participating marine facility provides 25 percent of the cost of each project.

For information, visit: www.ct.gov/deep/boating or contact Kate Hughes Brown, BIG/CVA program coordinator, at (860) 447-4340 or kate.brown@ct.gov.