EPA Ports Initiative Newsletter

January 16, 2025

Newsletter Items

• Update on Clean Ports Program Awards
• APPLY NOW: MARAD’s Port Infrastructure Development Program Accepting Applications Until April 30
• REMINDER: Tax Credits 101: MD/HD Vehicles and Charging Technology Webinar, TODAY January 16 at 1 PM ET
•  National Blueprint for Decarbonizing Transportation Action Plans
• Call for Presentations: Innovative Science and Technologies to Improve Security and Safety in the Marine Transportation System, Due February 15

Update on Clean Ports Program Awards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made final awards for nearly all of the 55 grants selected for funding under the Clean Ports Program!

53 of 55 awards have now been made across 26 states and territories to receive nearly $3 billion through EPA’s Clean Ports Program for zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure, and climate and air quality planning at U.S. ports. 

In February 2024, EPA announced two separate funding opportunities for U.S. ports – a Zero-Emission Technology Deployment Competition to directly fund zero-emission port 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. Selected projects cover a wide range of equipment used at and around ports, with funds supporting the purchase of battery-electric and hydrogen-powered port 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 and solar power generation.  

53 selectees have finalized their workplans and met administrative requirements and are ready to begin implementing their zero-emission technology deployment and climate and air quality planning projects at ports across the country. EPA continues to work with the two remaining selectees to finalize their grant awards. EPA plans to update the Clean Ports Program Selections webpage with additional information once that process is complete for all awards.

APPLY NOW: MARAD’s Port Infrastructure Development Program Accepting Applications Until April 30

The Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) is a discretionary grant program administered by the Maritime Administration. Funds for the PIDP are awarded on a competitive basis to projects that improve the safety, efficiency, or reliability of the movement of goods into, out of, around, or within a port.

PIDP grants support efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to improve port and related freight infrastructure to meet the nation’s freight transportation needs and ensure our port infrastructure can meet anticipated growth in freight volumes. The PIDP provides funding to ports in both urban and rural areas for planning and capital projects. It also includes a statutory set-aside for small ports to continue to improve and expand their capacity to move freight reliably and efficiently and support local and regional economies.

Emissions mitigation projects that enhance goods movement, such as those that replace diesel-powered cargo handling equipment with more efficient battery-powered equipment, illustrate this commitment to both increasing the efficiency and reliability of cargo operations and reducing port-related environmental impacts. Grants may be used for capital projects that will be used to improve the safety, efficiency, or reliability of environmental and emissions mitigation measures (among other types of eligible projects), including projects for:

1. port electrification or electrification master planning;
2. harbor craft or equipment replacements or retrofits;
3. development of port or terminal microgrids;
4. provision of idling reduction infrastructure;
5. purchase of cargo handling equipment and related infrastructure;
6. worker training to support electrification technology;
7. installation of port bunkering facilities from ocean-going vessels for fuels;
8. electric vehicle charging or hydrogen refueling infrastructure for drayage and medium or heavy-duty trucks and locomotives that service the port and related grid upgrades; or
9. other related port activities, including charging infrastructure, electric rubber-tired gantry cranes, and anti-idling technologies

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) provided $2.25 billion for the PIDP program over five years (2022-2026), $450,000,000 of which has been made available in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. In addition to the FY 2025 BIL PIDP funds, FY 2025 Appropriations Act funding, if appropriated, and unobligated prior year PIDP funds may also be made available in the future.

Please check the PIDP webpage and the FY 2025 PIDP Grants.gov listing for updates. You can view the NOFO on Grants.gov or on the PIDP webpage.

Applications for FY25 PIDP are due via Grants.gov by April 30, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. E.D.T.

REMINDER: Tax Credits 101: MD/HD Vehicles and Charging Technology Webinar, January 16 TODAY January 16 at 1 PM ET

On Thursday, January 16, 2025 at 1:00 PM ET, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) will be co-hosting a webinar primarily directed towards recipients of funding under EPA's Clean School Bus and Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles programs. EPA Clean Ports Program selectees and other Ports Initiative stakeholders are also invited to learn more about tax credits that may apply to zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicle projects including those funded under the Clean Ports Program.

The webinar will provide an overview of federal tax credits that may be applicable to purchasers of zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, as well as electric vehicle supply equipment. Treasury will discuss their new elective pay and transferability mechanisms for claiming tax credits and provide updated guidance on the Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicles Credit (45W) and the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit (30C), including ‘eligible property’ under 30C. Please click here to register, or use the button below.

National Blueprint for Decarbonizing Transportation Action Plans

The U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization is a landmark strategy for cutting all greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by 2050. The Blueprint was developed by the EPA, along with Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Transportation (DOT), and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and was released in January 2023.

As of January 2025, the four agencies developed detailed action plans based on the three strategies of Convenient, Efficient, and Clean transportation options. These action plans are broken out into individual transportation sectors, including maritime, medium and heavy-duty, rail, aviation, and more. You can view the summaries and full reports of the action plans on EPA’s website using this link or the button below: https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/national-blueprint-decarbonizing-transportation-what-comes-next

Call for Presentations: Innovative Science and Technologies to Improve Security and Safety in the Marine Transportation System, Due February 15

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) Conference on Innovative Science and Technologies to Improve Security and Safety of the Marine Transportation System is organized by The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine in partnership with the U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System and will be held June 23 – 26, 2025 in Washington, D.C. This conference will seek to identify research needs, barriers, and potential progress related to overall maritime security and safety strategies. Presenters and attendees will discuss cybersecurity, marine facility and waterway security, port and vessel security, cargo carriage safety, mariner safety, climate resilience, risks related to adopting new goods movement technologies and energy systems, maritime safety data systems, and collaboration mechanisms among all MTS-related stakeholders and sectors. Submissions of proposed presentations are due February 15, 2025.

For more information on resources and best practices to address diesel emissions at ports, please visit EPA's Ports Initiative website.

Previous newsletters can be found here: EPA Ports Initiative Newsletter | US EPA