US Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration announces $3 billion of investments in clean ports

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, signed by President Joe Biden and the 117th Congress, allocates considerable funding to initiatives to reduce air pollution around the country. This latest round of grants is one such instance of that funding being used to decarbonize part of an important sector of the economy, shipping:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the selection of 55 applicants across 27 states and territories to receive nearly $3 billion through EPA’s Clean Ports Program. These grants will support the deployment of zero-emission equipment, as well as infrastructure and climate and air quality planning projects at ports across the country. The grants are funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act — the largest investment in combating climate change and promoting clean energy in history— and will advance environmental justice by reducing diesel air pollution in U.S. ports and surrounding communities while promoting good-paying and union jobs that help America’s ports thrive.

Ports are vital to the U.S. economy and are responsible for moving goods and people throughout the country. At the same time, 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. The funds announced today will improve air quality at ports across the country by installing clean, zero-emission freight and ferry technologies along with associated infrastructure, eliminating more than 3 million metric tons of carbon pollution, equivalent to 391,220 homes' energy use for one year.

Here's what the money is being spent on:

Selected projects cover a wide range of human-operated and human-maintained equipment used at and around ports, with funds supporting the purchase of zero-emission equipment, including over 1,500 units of cargo handling equipment, 1,000 drayage trucks, 10 locomotives, and 20 vessels, as well as shore power systems, battery-electric and hydrogen vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure, and solar power generation.

Initial estimates of tailpipe reductions from this new equipment are estimated to be over 3 million metric tons of CO2, 12 thousand short tons of NOx, and 200 short tons of PM2.5 in the first 10 years of operation. These estimates are based on initial counts of proposed zero-emission equipment and shore power installations and do not consider benefits from retiring older vehicles, among other factors. These simplified estimates were prepared using national default emissions and activity factors and will be refined over time with more detailed information from selectees.

The press release quotes a few notable projects, including a $344 million grant to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to deploy electric (rather than diesel) vehicles at the port and install vessel shore power infrastructure to decrease fuel emissions while ships are docked.

You can see a list of Clean Ports Program Selections from the Environmental Protection Agency's website for information about all the grants.