Biden-Harris Administration Announces $147M in Clean Ports Investments in Maryland as Part of Investing America Agenda
EPA’s Clean Ports Program to fund 55 zero-emission port equipment, infrastructure, and planning projects across the nation to tackle climate change, reduce air pollution, promote good jobs, and advance environmental justice
PHILADELPHIA— Today, Oct. 29, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the Maryland Port Administration and Maryland Department of Transportation have been selected to receive more than $147 million through EPA’s Clean Ports Program for the deployment of zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure, and climate and air quality planning.
- Climate and Air Quality Planning - $1,974,660
- Update and expand emissions inventory
- Alternative energy analysis with emissions reduction strategy plan
- Workforce analysis and community engagement plan
- Zero Emission Technology - $145,658,479
- Electric cargo handling equipment and drayage trucks
- Charging infrastructure, battery energy storage system, electrical infrastructure upgrades
The grants are funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act — the largest investment in combating climate change and promoting clean energy in history— and will advance environmental justice by reducing diesel air pollution from U.S. ports and surrounding communities while promoting good-paying and union jobs that help America’s ports thrive.
“Our nation’s ports are critical to creating opportunity here in America, offering good-paying jobs, moving goods, and powering our economy,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Today’s historic $3 billion investment builds on President Biden’s vision of growing our economy while ensuring America leads in globally competitive solutions of the future. Delivering cleaner technologies and resources to U.S. ports will slash harmful air and climate pollution while protecting people who work in and live nearby ports communities.”
"While our U.S. Ports are critical to the economy of the Mid-Atlantic region, they also have a significant impact on our environment, " said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. "This once-in-a-generation effort to upgrade, modernize, and improve port equipment will have lasting positive impacts on all those who live and work on the East Coast'
“The Port of Baltimore is a vital economic engine for the state and a leader among the nation’s ports,” said U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (MD). “As we work to improve the Port, it is essential that we build for the future. The projects supported by the Clean Ports Program will help reduce emissions, improve air quality in the Baltimore region and create more clean energy jobs. The Biden-Harris administration’s bold investments in modernizing our infrastructure are driving our economy forward while enabling us to take on climate change in a meaningful way.”
“We fought to pass the Inflation Reduction Act to create good-paying jobs in our communities while tackling the climate crisis head-on, and today’s announcement shows these investments are being put to work,” said U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (MD). “This new federal funding will support the Port of Baltimore’s transition to electric infrastructure as part of its plans to reduce emissions – both bolstering the Port's growth and improving air quality for nearby communities. These efforts will help strengthen Baltimore’s economy and create more local jobs for Marylanders.”
“The tremendous projects selected for these federal funding awards will improve air quality and combat climate change by dramatically diminishing the Port of Baltimore's greenhouse gas and toxic pollutant emissions via installation of zero-emission cargo handling equipment and trucks, while also bolstering the Maryland Port Administration’s overall emissions reduction strategy,” said U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume (MD-07). “These extraordinary federal investments into our Port are consistent with our collective duty to preserve the planet – while also continuing to uplift the Port of Baltimore’s workforce and surrounding communities in the transition to a zero-emissions facility. As exemplified by this compelling announcement, the historic Inflation Reduction Act continues to tackle the climate crisis with fierce urgency right here in Baltimore.”
Ports are vital to the U.S. economy and are responsible for moving goods and people throughout the country. At the same time, the port and freight equipment responsible for moving goods including trucks, locomotives, marine vessels, and cargo-handling equipment contribute to significant levels of diesel air pollution at and near port facilities. This pollution is especially harmful to nearby communities’ health and contributes to climate change. The funds announced today will improve air quality at ports across the country by installing clean, zero-emission freight and ferry technologies along with associated infrastructure, eliminating more than 3 million metric tons of carbon pollution, equivalent to 391,220 homes' energy use for one year.
In February 2024, EPA announced two separate funding opportunities for U.S. ports – a Zero-Emission Technology Deployment Competition to directly fund zero-emission equipment and infrastructure to reduce mobile source emissions and a Climate and Air Quality Planning Competition to fund climate and air quality planning activities. The competitions closed in May 2024 with over $8 billion in requests from applicants across the country seeking to advance next-generation, clean technologies at U.S. ports.
After a thorough and rigorous grant application review process, EPA selected 55 applications to receive this historic investment. Applications to the Clean Ports Program were evaluated in part on their workforce development efforts to ensure that projects will expand access to high-quality jobs. Grant selections also align with the Administration’s national goal for a zero-emission freight sector, the National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, and the ‘all-of government’ National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy.
Selected projects cover a wide range of human-operated and human-maintained equipment used at and around ports, with funds supporting the purchase of zero-emission equipment, including over 1,500 units of cargo handling equipment, 1,000 drayage trucks, 10 locomotives, and 20 vessels, as well as shore power systems, battery-electric and hydrogen vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure, and solar power generation.
Initial estimates of tailpipe reductions from this new equipment are estimated to be over 3 million metric tons of CO2, 12 thousand short tons of NOx, and 200 short tons of PM2.5 in the first 10 years of operation. These estimates are based on initial counts of proposed zero-emission equipment and shore power installations and do not consider benefits from retiring older vehicles, among other factors. These simplified estimates were prepared using national default emissions and activity factors and will be refined over time with more detailed information from selectees.
In addition to protecting human health and the environment, the program will protect and grow good-paying and union port jobs, create new good-paying and union jobs in the domestic clean energy sector, and enhance U.S. economic competitiveness through the innovation, installation, maintenance, and operation of zero-emissions equipment and infrastructure. The program’s historic investment in zero-emission port technology will also help promote and ensure the U.S. position as a global leader in clean technologies.
EPA’s Clean Ports Program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Disadvantaged communities will benefit from cleaner air and access to high quality jobs that will be created to operate zero emissions technologies at ports.
EPA ensured that near-port community engagement and equity considerations were at the forefront of the Clean Ports Program’s design, including evaluating applications on the extent and quality of their projects’ community engagement efforts. The program will also help to ensure that meaningful community engagement and emissions reduction planning become a part of port industry standard practices by building on the successes of EPA’s Ports Initiative and the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act programs. These programs have previously invested over $196 million to implement 207 diesel emissions reduction projects at ports with an additional $88 million to multi-sector projects that involve ports and have encouraged strong community-port collaboration.
The agency anticipates making awards once all legal, statutory, and administrative requirements are satisfied. Selectees will work with EPA over the coming months to finalize project plans before receiving final awards and moving into the implementation phase. Project implementation will occur over the next three to four years depending on the scope of each project.
To learn more about the Clean Ports Program tentatively selected applications, please visit the Clean Ports Program Selections webpage.