The U.S. Maritime Administration – known as “MARAD” – recently published a notice of funding opportunity for $450 million worth of fiscal year 2024 grant funding via the agency’s Port Infrastructure Development Program or PIDP.
[Above photo by the Port of Los Angeles]
The agency said PIDP grants help complete critical port and port-related infrastructure projects in urban, rural, and tribal communities. Applicants eligible for PIDP grants include port authorities, state and local governments, indigenous tribal nations, counties, and other public entities.
Grants are awarded on a competitive basis to support projects that improve the safety, efficiency, or reliability of the movement of goods through ports and intermodal connections to ports, noted MARAD Administrator Ann Phillips in a statement.
“Projects selected to receive PIDP funding will support efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to modernize and expand port capacity to accelerate the movement of goods across the nation,” she said.
[Editor’s note: In a separate effort, MARAD recently unveiled its Mariner Workforce Strategic Plan for FY 2023–2027; a strategic plan outlining how the maritime industry can grow its workforce through recruitment, training, and retention for the next five years.]
“The PIDP is a powerful investment tool that is uniquely geared toward improving port and related freight infrastructure to meet the nation’s freight transportation needs – while simultaneously ensuring infrastructure can support future growth, and enhance the safety, efficiency, and reliability of the nation’s ports,” Phillips pointed out.
MARAD added that it plans to host a series of webinars that describe PIDP grant requirements and application process; available in the near future on the PIDP webpage. Recordings of the webinars will be posted on the website for those who cannot participate in the live events, the agency said.
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