According to U.S. Department of Transportation article published on February 8, 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) making available more than $662 million in Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 funding for MARAD’s Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).
The PIDP investment will modernize our nation’s ports and help strengthen our supply chains for generations to come, helping to reduce shipping time, costs, and ultimately the costs of goods for the American people. The President’s infrastructure package provides $450 million annually in funding for the Program.
“America’s ports play a central role in our supply chains,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “With today’s announcement, we are helping make our ports safer, more efficient, and more reliable—strengthening supply chains, reducing costs for the American people, and positioning us for economic success.”
MARAD’s Port Infrastructure Development Program discretionary grants help eligible applicants including port authorities, states, local governments, indigenous Tribal nations, counties, and other eligible entities complete critical port and port-related infrastructure projects. 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. MARAD will also consider how projects address climate change and sustainability, equity, and workforce development objectives.
“This funding will 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 support future growth,” said Maritime Administrator Ann Phillips. “The program also includes a statutory set-aside for small ports to continue to improve and expand their capacity to move freight reliably and efficiently, support local and regional economies, and support supply chain improvement.”
Recent projects funded include installation of fast charging stations and other port electrification components and the development of a scalable plan for transitioning the port and local maritime industry to zero-emission technologies in Jacksonville, Florida; the creation of an intermodal rail yard near an existing port terminal in Kaskaskia, Illinois; and the modernization of electric and stormwater infrastructure and warehouse capacity for the Port of Cleveland by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority in Cleveland, Ohio. A full list of 2022 awarded projects can be found here.
In the coming weeks, the Federal Highway Administration will open FY 2022-20223 grant applications for the Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities program, which will make $160 million available to test, evaluate, and deploy projects that reduce port-related emissions from idling trucks, including through the advancement of port electrification and improvements in efficiency.
MARAD will host a series of webinars that describe PIDP NOFO requirements and the PIDP application process. These webinars are an excellent resource for prospective PIDP applicants. The webinars will be announced in the near future on the PIDP webpage. Recordings of the webinars will be posted on the website for those that cannot participate in the live webinars. MARAD has also developed a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that are available here.
The NOFO is available on Grants.gov. The deadline for applications is 11:59 PM Eastern Time on April 28, 2023. For additional questions regarding PIDP grants email PIDPGrants@dot.gov.
