MARAD Sets $500 Million for 2024 Grants Under Ports Improvement Program

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced $500 million in funding for the Port Infrastructure Development Program in Federal Fiscal Year 2024. The program provides grants to ports around the United States in support of construction and infrastructure projects.

Investments made under the PIDP focus on modernizing the nation’s coastal and inland waterway ports as well as strengthening its supply chains and economic security. PIDP funds also aid in the reduction of carriers’ shipping time, costs, and ultimately the price of goods for the American people. The Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $450 million annually, between FY 2022 and FY 2026, in funding for the program. 

“Ports are central to our supply chains, and when ports run smoothly, it helps keep prices down, shelves stocked, and American farms and businesses selling their goods around the world,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “After helping our supply chains recover from pandemic disruptions, today President Biden is announcing $500 million to further strengthen our ports and keep shipping costs down, now and for generations of Americans.”

MARAD’s PIDP grants help eligible applicants complete critical port and port-related infrastructure projects in urban, rural, and tribal communities. Applicants include port authorities, state and local governments, indigenous tribal nations, counties, and other eligible public entities. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis to support projects that improve the safety, efficiency, or reliability of the movement of goods through ports and intermodal connections to ports.

“Projects selected to receive PIDP funding will support efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to modernize and expand port capacity to accelerate the movement of goods across the nation,” said Maritime Administrator Ann Phillips. 

Over $653 million was awarded in November 2023 to fund 41 port improvement projects. It included more than $172.8 million for 26 small ports to continue to improve and expand their capacity to move freight reliably and efficiently.

Projects funded in FY 2023 include a dock replacement in Alaska, on-dock rail improvements in Long Beach, California, and pier infrastructure renovations in Port Newark, New Jersey. It also ranged from safety and capacity improvements at a tribal harbor in Oregon, a new barge terminal in Minnesota, safety improvements and electric vehicle charging infrastructure in North Carolina, a container yard expansion in Washington State, a wharf expansion at a port on the St. Lawrence Seaway in New York, and a new facility for mooring barges in Arkansas.

This program also complements the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program, which just made $3 billion available. That program will fund zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure to reduce mobile source emissions at U.S. ports, which may include cargo handling equipment, harbor craft and vessels, electric charging, and hydrogen fueling infrastructure, and a number of other technology investments. 

The deadline for applications under the port program is May 10, 2024.