The federal government's latest financial effort to boost sustainability and green technologies at America's vital ports is also its largest to date.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has awarded $347 million in funding to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey through its Clean Ports Program for the specific purpose of jumpstarting the usage of sustainable trucks, ships, and cargo handling equipment. This is the busiest seaport on America's East Coast, with total handling cargo reaching about $238 billion in 2023. Over 563,000 jobs are supported by port operations in the New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania region.
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This latest round of funding aims to play a critical role as the Port Authority changes gears towards more environmentally friendly operations as well as boosting collaboration with local communities which are impacted by the port's operations.
“The Port Authority has made the nation-leading commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and this award goes a long way to making that vision a reality,” said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. "With this critical funding from the Biden-Harris Administration, Port Liberty will become a greener and safer place to work on Staten Island, improving the lives of the hundreds of New Yorkers who work there every day.”
This award sets aside $3 million of the total amount to allow the Port Authority to set up a Port Community Advisory Council. This body will consist of key stakeholders from local communities who will meet regularly with port leadership. The the bulk of the award - $344 million - will be used for increasing ongoing sustainability efforts, specifically from terminal operators, truckers, and other key players.
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The grant money is also is being aimed at boosting engagement with drayage truck operators and to update the Port Authority's Drayage Truck Movement and Impact Study in order to gather more data regarding the needs of the drayage industry as it continue to adopt cleaner vehicles. Funds will also be made available to create a local air quality monitoring program.
The Port Authority has already committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Efforts at the Port of New York and New Jersey are already underway with incentives, via the Truck Replacement Program, to offer financial incentives to truck companies to replace older diesels with newer and cleaner models.
Some additional efforts include the Clean Vessel Incentive, the installation of four DC fast chargers at Port Newark, and the buildout of the port's ExpressRail system which will allow goods to reach key regions, such as the Midwest, New England, and eastern Canada, via railway instead of trucks.
