In 1996, NASBLA was awarded a grant in partnership with the National Safe Boating Council to create national standards for boat operator proficiency. The main goal of that project was to develop a new standard of care for boating which prescribed the requisite type and level of skill and knowledge retention necessary to modify the behavior of the individual boater to a satisfactory and measurable degree. The standards were developed to communicate to boating educators the minimum boating safety information that should be included in a boating safety course. The National Boating Education Standards were finalized and presented to NASBLA at the end of 1998.

Provisions were put in place which allowed the standards to be revised by the NASBLA Education Committee after careful consideration of the revisions being proposed. A risk-based analysis of the standards will be conducted from July 2008 through December 2009 and will likely conclude with recommended changes to the Standards. The most recent copy of the NASBLA National Boating Education Standards, as well as information regarding the various amendments that have been made to the Standards in the past 10 years, can be found on the pages listed at the left.

When the Standards were finalized, a review process for boating safety courses was developed. Originally, the review was completed by one person from each of the three regional areas (North, South and West) however, the process was streamlined with the hiring of the NASBLA Education Director in 2005. Details about the current review process and copies of the application documents to request review of a boating safety course can be found on the following pages. In addition, a list of the currently-approved boating safety courses being offered throughout the country is available.