EPA on Oct. 29 announced it will disburse $2.9 billion in grants to U.S. port authorities to purchase zero-emission equipment, vehicles and on-site electricity generators through its Clean Ports Program.
The agency said the funds would support the purchase of 1,500 units of cargo-handling equipment, 1,000 drayage trucks, 10 locomotives and 20 vessels, along with battery-electric and hydrogen vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure, and solar power generation. It estimates the equipment and infrastructure will prevent more than 3 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, 12,000 short tons of NOx and 200 short tons of PM2.5 in the first 10 years of operation.
EPA selected 55 state, city and county agencies across the continental U.S. and in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Most are shipping ports along the coasts, but the awardees also included several agencies overseeing inland intermodal terminals, such as in Dallas and Salt Lake City.
While “ports are vital to the U.S. economy,” the agency said, “the port and freight equipment responsible for moving goods including trucks, locomotives, marine vessels, and cargo-handling equipment contribute to significant levels of diesel air pollution at and near port facilities. This pollution is especially harmful to nearby communities’ health and contributes to climate change.”
“Delivering cleaner technologies and resources to U.S. ports will slash harmful air and climate pollution while protecting people who work in and live nearby ports communities,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.
The largest winners were Los Angeles and the Port of Virginia, which were granted more than $411 million and about $380 million, respectively. EPA said applicants “were evaluated in part on their workforce development efforts, to ensure that projects will expand access to high-quality jobs.”
The Maryland Port Administration and Department of Transportation received more than $147 million for equipment at the Port of Baltimore, where President Joe Biden spoke on Oct. 29 to celebrate the awards.
“For too long, [ports] have run on fossil fuels and aging infrastructure, putting workers at risk and exposing nearby communities to dangerous pollution,” the president said. “The new $3 billion in funding we’re delivering today will help ports all across America … strengthen supply chains, make American businesses more competitive and keep consumer prices down while slashing carbon pollution.”
Biden took the opportunity to praise state and federal efforts to clear the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and reopen the port. “We won’t stop until the new bridge is finished completely,” he said. “Finished, finished, finished. I call on Congress to fully fund it, this year!”
The president was joined by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, whom he said “may be the best governor in the country,” and the state’s U.S. senators, Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, the latter of whom he called “Sen. Van Halen.”
“What the hell is his name? He’s new,” Biden joked after the gaffe.
