Port Infrastructure
EPA Awards $3B for Port Projects Targeting Zero Emissions
The Port of Los Angeles will use a $411.7-million grant to electrify diesel-powered equipment and vehicles, including installation of charging infrastructure.
Photo courtesy Port of Los Angeles
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is aiming to spark momentum in reducing harmful carbon emissions at U.S. ports with the award of $3 billion in grants for 55 port projects targeting zero-emission goals.
The awards, which EPA announced on Oct. 29, went to projects in 27 states and territories.
More than 20 of the selected projects, including several of the largest ones, would fund port electrification programs.
The City of Los Angeles Harbor Dept., which manages the Port of Los Angeles, is receiving a $411.7-million grant it will use to replace diesel-powered equipment with battery-electric cargo-handling equipment, battery-electric drayage trucks and vessel shore power equipment, according to an EPA fact sheet.
The department will purchase and install charging infrastructure, solar generation infrastructure and battery energy storage.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plans to use its $344.1-million grant to help finance deployment of electric cargo equipment and drayage trucks, with charging infrastructure as part of the plan, according to EPA.
The Virginia Port Authority will use its $380-million grant to replace internal combustion engine units at three of its terminals with battery-electric equipment.
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The funds come from the Clean Ports program, which was created in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said, “The Clean Ports program is truly a game changer,” adding that ports are "the backbone of our economy."
But Regan said in an Oct. 28 media briefing that too often the communities around the ports "face serious air quality challenges due to diesel pollution from trucks, ships and other port machinery."
Regan added that the projects funded by the new grants will cut more than three million tons of CO2 emissions and also result in reductions in other pollutants.
The grants were in great demand. EPA said it received applications seeking a total of more than $8 billion, more than three times the funds available.
Port officials have long been enthusiastic about the program. "From the earliest stages of legislative development in Congress, America’s ports have been ecstatic about and committed to the vision of implementing a novel grant program for the port industry," said Cary S, Davis, American Association of Port Authorities president and CEO, in a statement.
Davis added, “These grant funding awards will usher in a cleaner and more resilient future for our ports and national transportation system."
Story updated with EPA information about selected projects.
