Biden-Harris Administration announces nearly $40 million of Clean Ports investments in Connecticut as part of Investing in America agenda

Today, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with federal, state, and local partners celebrated that Gateway Terminal in partnership with the New Haven Port Authority in Connecticut, and the Connecticut Port Authority have been selected to receive nearly $40 million in total through EPA’s Clean Ports Program to support the deployment of zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure.

• Enstructure New Haven Holdings’ Gateway Terminal, in partnership with the New Haven Port Authority in Connecticut, has been selected to receive an anticipated $34,032,340 for the purchase and deployment of zero-emission cargo handling equipment with supporting charging infrastructure, as well as rooftop solar generation and battery energy storage systems to supplement grid power for the mobile equipment. The project also includes scrapping several pieces of diesel-powered cargo handling equipment to reduce air pollution at the port and in the surrounding area. Training on the all-electric equipment will be provided to the existing workforce, and the community will be engaged in project implementation and in sourcing workers for new good-paying jobs. Gateway recently joined Green Marine, a voluntary environmental benchmarking and continuous improvement program, which requires participants to annually measure, certify and publish their performance indicators, including emissions reduction and community relations.

• The Connecticut Port Authority has been selected to receive an anticipated $5,357,103 to acquire a mobile shore power unit and install supporting shore power infrastructure at the New London State Pier. The project will reduce diesel emissions by providing power to vessels at berth, enabling docked marine vessels to connect to the local electric grid to power onboard services instead of running their diesel engines, thereby decreasing health risks and noise pollution for port workers and the near-port communities. The State Pier was recently upgraded to enable it to serve as a marshalling port for offshore wind facility operations. CPA will engage stakeholders in New London to increase public awareness education, and ongoing communication. A workforce training program developed in coordination with unions and other stakeholders will help prepare the local labor force to fill high-quality jobs created by this project.

The grants are funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act—the largest investment in combating climate change and promoting clean energy in history—and will advance environmental justice by reducing diesel air pollution from U.S. ports and near surrounding communities while promoting good-paying and union jobs that help America’s ports thrive.

“Our nation’s ports are critical to creating opportunity here in America, offering good-paying jobs, moving goods, and powering our economy,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Today’s historic $3 billion investment builds on President Biden’s vision of growing our economy while ensuring America leads in globally competitive solutions of the future. Delivering cleaner technologies and resources to U.S. ports will slash harmful air and climate pollution while protecting people who work in and live nearby ports communities.”

“Ports are vital to our economy, and are often communities that are most overburdened by pollution. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, we are helping to ensure that our New England ports remain strong drivers of economic growth and workforce development, while cutting diesel pollution, tackling climate change, and improving community health,” said EPA Regional Administrator David W. Cash. “Whether it’s deploying zero-emission equipment in Connecticut or planning the best path forward to a zero-emissions future in Maine or Massachusetts, these investments will improve the air we breathe, protect the health of our families, and support good-paying jobs for America's workers.”

“This transformative grant will accelerate our transition to clean, electric-powered equipment and infrastructure at the Gateway Terminal. This investment will allow us to reduce diesel consumption and position our terminal at the forefront of sustainable port operations,” said Enstructure Co-CEO’s Philippe De Montigny and Matthew Satnick. “This investment is pivotal in advancing our terminal’s efficiency and a cleaner future for the entire New Haven community. We would like to thank our partners at the New Haven Port Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency, Senators Blumenthal and Murphy, and Representative DeLauro for their support on this critical effort.”

“The Connecticut Port Authority, Ørsted and Gateway are thrilled to be selected by the EPA’s Clean Ports Program to help bring our shore power project to life at New London State Pier,” said Paul Whitescarver, Board Chair of the Connecticut Port Authority. “Working together, we’ve transformed the State Pier into a state-of-the-art offshore wind hub and put hundreds of Connecticut residents to work. Now, by allowing docked vessels to connect directly to the local power grid, this project will further modernize the facility while decreasing emissions and improving local air quality. We thank our local partners and supporters of this project, and we look forward to continuing our investments in Connecticut’s economy and clean energy future.”

Ports are vital to the U.S. economy and are responsible for moving goods and people throughout the country. At the same time, the port and freight equipment responsible for moving goods—including trucks, locomotives, marine vessels, and cargo-handling equipment—contribute to significant levels of diesel air pollution at and near port facilities. This pollution is especially harmful to nearby communities’ health and contributes to climate change. The funds announced today will improve air quality at ports across the country by installing clean, zero-emission freight and ferry technologies along with associated charging infrastructure, eliminating more than 3 million metric tons of carbon pollution, equivalent to 391,220 homes' energy use for one year.

In February 2024, EPA announced two separate funding opportunities for U.S. ports—a Zero-Emission Technology Deployment Competition to directly fund zero-emission 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 in total to receive this historic investment. Applications to the Clean Ports Program were evaluated in part on their workforce development efforts, to ensure that projects will expand access to high-quality jobs. Grant selections also align with the Administration’s national goal for a zero-emission freight sector, the National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, and the ‘all-of government’ National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy.

Selected projects cover a wide range of human-operated and human-maintained equipment used at and around ports, with funds supporting the purchase of battery-electric and hydrogen-powered 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 to reduce vessel emissions at berth, battery-electric and hydrogen vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure, and solar power generation.

Initial estimates of tailpipe reductions from this new equipment are estimated to be over 3 million metric tons of CO2, 12 thousand short tons of NOx, and 200 short tons of PM2.5 in the first 10 years of operation. These estimates are based on initial counts of proposed zero-emission equipment and shore power installations and do not consider benefits from retiring older vehicles, among other factors. These simplified estimates were prepared using national default emissions and activity factors and will be refined over time with more detailed information from selectees.

In addition to protecting human health and the environment, the program will protect and grow good-paying and union port jobs, create new good-paying and union jobs in the domestic clean energy sector, and enhance U.S. economic competitiveness through innovation, installation, maintenance, and operation of zero-emissions equipment and infrastructure. The program’s historic investment in zero-emission port technology will also help promote and ensure the U.S. position as a global leader in clean technologies.

EPA’s Clean Ports Program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Disadvantaged communities will benefit from cleaner air and access to high quality jobs that will be created to operate zero emissions technologies at ports.

EPA ensured that near-port community engagement and equity considerations were at the forefront of the Clean Ports Program’s design, including by evaluating applications on the extent and quality of their projects’ community engagement efforts. The program will also help to ensure that meaningful community engagement and emissions reduction planning become a part of port industry standard practices by building on the successes of EPA’s Ports Initiative and the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act programs. These programs have previously invested over $196 million to implement 207 diesel emissions reduction projects at ports with an additional $88 million to multi-sector projects that involve ports and have encouraged strong community-port collaboration.

The agency anticipates making awards once all legal, statutory, and administrative requirements are satisfied. Selectees will work with EPA over the coming months to finalize project plans before receiving final awards and moving into the implementation phase. Project implementation will occur over the next three to four years depending on the scope of each project.