Through the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced today that it would provide more than $48 million to finance a project in New York to upgrade port facilities. The financing, made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and extra Congressional appropriations, helps enhance supply chain dependability through improved port capacity and resilience, more efficient operations, decreased port emissions, and new worker opportunities. Collectively, these improvements will expedite the delivery of items to store shelves and reduce prices for American people.
The President signed an Executive Order on Supply Chains in February 2021 and established a Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, co-chaired by Secretary Buttigieg, in July 2021 with the goal of constructing a better and more robust supply chain for the country. The Administration, with the support of Secretary Buttigieg and the Department of Transportation, has taken short-term actions to address supply chain disruptions and is now, through investments such as this one, working to create the infrastructure for a stronger, more resilient supply chain in the long term.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said, “So many of the items we all rely on, from appliances to clothing to furniture, pass through our nation’s ports on their way to us.” “This year, using monies from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, we’re granting record amounts of financing to upgrade our port infrastructure, boost our supply chains, and ultimately reduce prices for American people.”
The Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) supports efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to improve port and related freight infrastructure in order to meet the nation’s freight transportation needs and to ensure that our port infrastructure can accommodate anticipated growth in freight volumes. The initiative offers planning, capital finance, and project management help to ports in an effort to increase their capacity and efficiency. The PIDP supports urban and rural ports with money for capital and planning initiatives. It also contains a statutory set-aside for small ports to continue improving and expanding their capacity to carry freight in a dependable and efficient manner and to boost local and regional economies.
More than sixty percent of the grants will assist ports in historically disadvantaged neighbourhoods, and a number of the projects will cut emissions at the ports by electrifying them. In addition, contracts totaling more than $150 million emphasise the electrification of port equipment to minimise emissions and enhance air quality. The awards also include nearly $100 million for port projects that will advance offshore wind deployment – in support of President Biden’s ambitious goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, sufficient to power 10 million homes with clean energy, support 77,000 jobs, and spur private investment throughout the supply chain.