The Biden administration on Friday announced a new round of $700 million for port infrastructure in 22 states, another injection of resources from the massive infrastructure law and part of an ongoing effort to strengthen supply chains in the wake of pandemic backlogs.
The money is part of the multibillion-dollar programs in the infrastructure law signed nearly one year ago, through which funding continues to flow to states and localities around the United States.
More than 60% of the grants announced Friday will go to ports in historically disadvantaged communities, and more than $150 million will help reduce emissions through electrification, according to the Department of Transportation.
The infrastructure law includes about $16.6 billion for ports, waterways and coastal infrastructure, including the $2.25 billion Port Infrastructure Development Program, which allowed for the awards announced Friday that will touch states from Massachusetts to Ohio to California.
“So many of the goods we all count on, from appliances to furniture to clothes, move through our nation’s ports on their way to us,” said Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg in a statement. “Using funds from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this year we’re awarding record levels of funding to improve our port infrastructure, strengthen our supply chains, and help cut costs for American families.”
The Biden administration has more broadly announced $183 billion in disbursements from the infrastructure law, coordinator Mitch Landrieu said last week, and 5,000 projects underway. Most of the programs are designed to dole out funding over five years.
“We hit the ground running,” Landrieu told reporters.
“This thing is really registering with people because they’re seeing it on the ground,” he added. “This is the largest project in the history of the country.”
The port awards announced Friday include nearly $100 million for offshore wind development projects. President Joe Biden has set a goal of deploying enough offshore wind by 2030 to power 10 million homes.
Port grants include:
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Cleveland: $27 million for the Port of Cleveland to modernize a large warehouse, upgrade the maintenance and repowering facility for equipment and install electric infrastructure
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California: $30 million for Long Beach to replace diesel tractors with electric tractors, construct electric charging equipment and streamline cargo operations
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Massachusetts: $33.8 million for the Salem wind port project, which will redevelop a vacant facility into a marshaling area for offshore wind energy
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New York: $48 million for the Arthur Kill offshore wind terminal project on Staten Island; the project will fund the dredging of the ship basin to develop the sire as an offshore wind assembly facility
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Wisconsin: $10.1 million for the Port of Green Bay, funding the first phase of redevelopment of a former power plant site into a new port terminal
Local leaders and lawmakers cheered the newly announced money Friday.
“Another step forward in our city and state’s clean energy future!” wrote Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll on Twitter.
“Grateful for this federal funding award which will help transform our port here in Salem, create new jobs, expand our commercial tax base + generate reliable clean energy.”
