EPA Announces Clean Ports Program
WASHINGTON – Today the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new program to prioritize the acceleration of zero emission ports and freight infrastructure. This new program will build on EPA’s Ports Initiative that is helping ports nationwide address public health and environmental impacts on surrounding communities. Funding under the Clean Ports Program can be used for capture and control ship technologies, charging infrastructure, electric drayage trucks, vessel shore power, electric switcher locomotives, battery storage systems, and electric cargo handling equipment.
Ports are hotspots for local emissions and air pollutants, where frontline workers and residents suffer disproportionate harm from these pollutants. Resources to address these issues have, for years, been insufficient or unfocused. Now, the Inflation Reduction Act provides an opportunity to increase protections for Environmental Justice communities and to mitigate specific types of pollution.
Ports like the Port Authority of NY/NJ and the Port of Seattle now have the opportunity to partner with Environmental Justice Stakeholders and benefit from the $3 billion that is now being offered through the Clean Ports Program. Applications for Clean Ports funding are due by May 28, 2024.
“Communities like Seattle, New York and New Jersey illustrate the struggle to address a legacy of environmental injustices while transitioning to a clean energy economy,” said Terrance Bankston, Senior Ports and Freight Campaigner for Friends of the Earth. “As a national Environmental Justice advocate, I applaud the EPA’s support of Justice 40 and bold stance in offering funding to advance Environmental Justice. From here, we must continue to urge particularly our largest US ports and partner with our Environmental Justice Groups and other Community Based Organizations to create ambitious proposals. I encourage all Port Officials and Stakeholders to join Environmental champions on the right side of history.”
Comms contact: Shaye Skiff, [email protected]