The U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary announced the award of more than $241 million in discretionary grant funding for 25 projects to improve port facilities in 19 states and one territory through the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).
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These grants demonstrate rapid action on commitments in the Biden-Harris Port Action Plan, which will strengthen our supply chains to meet demand resulting from the rapid economic recovery over the past year, and help address inflationary pressures.
“U.S. maritime ports play a critical role in our supply chains,†said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. “These investments in our nation’s ports will help support American jobs, efficient and resilient operations, and faster delivery of goods to the American people.â€
The state of New York was awarded funding for two projects. The projects include the New York’s South Brooklyn Marine Terminal 35th Street Pier Expansion Project and Albany’s Offshore Wind Tower Manufacturing Port Project.
The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal 35th Street Pier Expansion Project will add a barge berth and an additional crane pad on the western end of the 35th Street Pier. The wharf will be designed to accommodate 400-foot long barges.
Albany’s Offshore Wind Tower Manufacturing Port Project will construct the necessary infrastructure to develop 81 acres of a vacant industrial area along the Hudson River immediately south of the existing Port District into an offshore wind tower manufacturing port. The project will also redevelop an additional 14.5 vacant acres inside the Port of Albany. The project scope encompasses the necessary infrastructure design and construction to develop the Offshore Wind Tower Manufacturing Port. This includes an access bridge and connector roadway, all internal roads, all utility site work and infrastructure, upland preparation, berth dredging, and 500 linear feet of 6,000 lb/sf heavy capacity wharf construction.
The PIDP is in its third year and has already awarded $492 million for 32 projects of regional and national economic significance within its first two years. The program supports efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to improve facility and freight infrastructure to ensure the Nation’s freight transportation needs, present and future, are met. It provides planning and capital financing and project management assistance to improve ports’ capacity and efficiency.
The projects that were awarded grants include coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports, and inland river ports. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 PIDP includes priorities related to job creation, climate change, and environmental justice impacts.
“These investments will support the shift to cleaner transportation, which will create more economic activity and good paying jobs,†said the Acting Maritime Administrator Lucinda Lessley. “The Port Infrastructure Development Program is an important part of building back better for our ports, our communities, our economy, and our people.â€
By announcing these grant awards now, the Department is making good on a promise in the Biden-Harris Port Action Plan that will take actions to address supply chain disruptions by helping to increase Federal flexibilities for port grants; accelerate port infrastructure grant awards; initiate new construction projects for coastal navigation, inland waterways, and land ports of entry; and launch the first round of expanded port infrastructure grants funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
This Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will rebuild America’s roads, bridges, and rails; upgrade and expand public transit; modernize the Nation’s ports and airports; improve safety; tackle the climate crisis; advance environmental justice; and invest in communities that have too often been left behind. It will drive the creation of good-paying union jobs and grow the economy sustainably and equitably so that everyone gets ahead for decades to come.
Going forward, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will provide $450 million annually in funding for the PIDP program for fiscal years 2022 through 2026, or a total of $2.25 billion. This is roughly the same amount of federal funding provided to ports under DOT-administered grant programs since the DOT began providing funding to ports in 2009.
Ports provide high quality union jobs for Americans and are key to a nation that heavily relies on its maritime services. By providing the funding to support the improvement of this critical infrastructure, MARAD and the Department are ensuring these services will succeed during the Nation’s ongoing economic recovery.
All PIDP grant award recipients must apply, comply with, and implement all provisions of the Buy American Act. ■