AASHTO Journal - Maritime Administration Issues $580M in Port Funds

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration – known as MARAD – recently announced plans to issue nearly $580 million in grants funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA to support 31 port improvement projects in 15 states and one U.S. territory.

[Above photo by MARAD]

The agency said that funding – which will help increase both capacity and efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports, and inland river ports – comes from its Port Infrastructure Development Program or PIDP, which received $2.2 billion from the IIJA to improve port infrastructure to meet the nation’s freight transportation needs. The PIDP provides planning support, capital funding, and project management assistance to improve the capacity and efficiency of ports in both urban and rural areas, MARAD added.

[Editor’s note: In October, the American Association of Port Authorities, in collaboration with economists from Ernst & Young, released its “2024 Port and Maritime Industry Economic Impact Report,” which found that ports contribute $2.9 trillion annually to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, with more than $2.1 trillion, or more than over 40 percent, of the total value of U.S. goods passing through a U.S. port.]

“Modernizing America’s port infrastructure is essential to strengthening the multimodal network that supports our nation’s supply chain,” said MARAD Administrator Ann Phillips in a statement. “Approximately 2.3 billion tons of goods move through U.S. waterways each year, and the benefits of developing port infrastructure extend far beyond the maritime sector. This funding enhances the flow and capacity of goods moved, bolstering supply chain resilience across all transportation modes, and addressing the environmental and health impacts on port communities.”

This is the most recent in a string of port funding awards.

In early November, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued $3 billion in grants via its Clean Ports Program to 55 port projects across 27 states and U.S. territories.

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

And in May, the Federal Highway Administration issued $148 million in grants to 16 port projects in 11 states and Puerto Rico via the first round of a new $400 million program aimed at improving air quality and reducing pollution in port communities.

The FHWA said its new Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities grant program –created by the IIJA – provides funding for port electrification and efficiency improvements as part of a broader effort to reduce pollution from idling commercial trucks at port facilities.