EPA Announces Nearly $2M Clean Ports Investment in Puerto Rico

EPA Announces Nearly $2M Clean Ports Investment in Puerto Rico

EPA's Clean Ports Program funding will transform port operations with zero-emission technology, reduce air pollution, and advance environmental justice in port communities

November 14, 2024

PUERTO RICO - Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $1.8 million award to the Puerto Rico Ports Authority to drive climate resilience and air quality improvements across its port operations. Speaking from EPA's office in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Regional Administrator Garcia joined by Director of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority, Joel Piza, emphasized the grant's focus on environmental justice and community health, noting how this initiative-part of the Biden-Harris Administration's Investing in America agenda-will bring cleaner air and healthier environments to Puerto Rico's port communities.

"Ports are essential to moving and bringing us goods that we depend on, but they are also sources of air and climate pollution impacting the surrounding communities," said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. "With this funding, we're taking steps to protect community health, improve air quality, and promote climate resilience. This investment underscores EPA's commitment to advancing environmental and climate justice while ensuring that Puerto Rico's port communities benefit from cleaner air and sustainable economic growth."

"We are deeply honored to receive this $1.8 million grant from the EPA's Clean Ports Program, recognizing the Port of San Juan's critical role in Puerto Rico's economy and its ability to serve as a hub for both daily commerce and emergency response," said Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority Joel A. Pizá Batiz. "As the main gateway for essential goods like food, fuel, and materials, the port sustains our island's communities in everyday life and in times of crisis. This funding will enable us to advance emission reduction strategies and enhance the port's long-term resilience, ensuring we remain a cornerstone of Puerto Rico's prosperity and sustainability. I extend my deepest gratitude to the PRPA team, whose dedication made this achievement possible".

The EPA has selected the Puerto Rico Ports Authority to receive a Climate and Air Quality Planning Grant to develop a baseline air emissions inventory and two projected "business as usual" emissions inventories for 2030/2050, development of emissions reduction strategies, and stakeholder engagement. Reduction strategies will prioritize technologically and operationally feasible vehicles and equipment that can be integrated to reduce criteria, greenhouse gas, and toxic air emissions. The project also includes development of a resiliency plan to protect infrastructure from climate related vulnerabilities, such as hurricanes.

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 near surrounding communities while promoting good-paying and union jobs that help America's ports thrive.

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 in total 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 battery-electric and hydrogen-powered 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 by 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.

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