EPA Ports Initiative Newsletter

May 2, 2024

Newsletter Items: 

• Reminder to Please Submit Questions about Applying to the Clean Ports Program Notices of Funding Opportunities by May 6th
• Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program Open Now Until July 25
• USDOT Announces Nearly $150 Million in Grants to Help Reduce Truck Air Pollution Near America’s Ports

Reminder to Please Submit Questions about Applying to the Clean Ports Program Notices of Funding Opportunities by May 6th

Please send questions about the Clean Ports Program Zero-Emission Technology Deployment Competition and the Climate and Air Quality Planning Competition to our helpdesk, cleanports@epa.gov. To allow for time to respond before the application deadline, please submit questions about applying to the Clean Ports Program funding opportunities by May 6th, 2024.

EPA reviews all questions submitted to our helpdesk and posts answers publicly via our Questions and Answers document. We will continue to update this document periodically while the NOFOs are open. New questions were added on April 25th, 2024. Please review this document to answer any questions about the two Clean Ports Program funding opportunities. Note that many questions are variations of each other so your exact question may not be listed; please look for similar questions. 

Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program Open Now until July 25

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the launch of the 2024 Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program to fund the replacement of non-zero-emission Class 6 and Class 7 heavy-duty vehicles with zero-emission vehicles. The EPA expects to offer up to $932 million in funding for high-quality applications that propose to serve communities across the country, particularly those overburdened by air pollution. At least $400 million will be used to fund projects serving communities in air quality nonattainment areas.

Eligible applicants to the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program include:

1. States, including U.S. territories;  
2. Municipalities, including public school districts;
3. Indian Tribes; and 
4. Nonprofit school transportation associations.

Vehicles eligible for replacement under the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program include:

• Class 6 and Class 7 school buses
• Other non-school bus Class 6 and Class 7 vehicles, including (but not limited to):
• Refuse Haulers/Dump Trucks
• Class 6/7 Transit Buses
• Delivery Trucks
• Utility Trucks
• Bucket Trucks
• Other Box Trucks

Eligible activities and costs for the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program include:

• The incremental cost of replacing a non-zero-emission Class 6/7 heavy-duty vehicle with a Class 6/7 zero-emission vehicle.
• The purchase and installation of fueling infrastructure that will support vehicles replaced under this program.
• Driver/mechanic training related to the maintenance and operation of new vehicles and supporting fueling infrastructure, and vehicle warranties.
• Costs directly related to the implementation, management, and oversight of the project, including recipient and subrecipient personnel and benefits, contractual services, consulting on vehicle deployments, travel, supplies, and indirect costs.

Applicants must submit all application materials by:

July 25, 2024, at 11:59 PM ET

Potential applicants without a Grants.gov or System for Award Management (SAM.gov) accounts are encouraged to initiate the registration process for each account as soon as possible since the registration process can take a month or more.

USDOT Announces Nearly $150 Million in Grants to Help Reduce Truck Air Pollution Near America’s Ports

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration recently announced $148 million in grants to 11 states and Puerto Rico under the first round of a new $400 million program to improve air quality and reduce pollution for truck drivers, port workers and families that live in communities surrounding ports. The Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities Grant Program, which was created by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), invests in port electrification and efficiency improvements. This program aims to reduce pollution from idling trucks at our nation’s ports while modernizing infrastructure and strengthening supply chains. 

FHWA has funded 16 projects that reduce pollution in communities adjacent to ports, which disproportionately bear the negative environmental impacts of idling trucks. Specific truck emissions reductions funded include replacing diesel-powered trucks serving ports with zero or low emissions electric or alternative fuel-powered trucks, constructing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, employing port roadway access improvements, and studying technology enhancements to reduce truck emissions. For example:

• California is receiving $49.7 million for port improvements. The Ports of Long Beach, Oakland and Los Angeles will receive funding to replace diesel- and gas-powered trucks and shuttle buses with zero-emission technologies, electric trucks and EV chargers.
• Texas is receiving $26.9 million for improvements to the Port of Houston, including 30 new zero-emission, short-haul trucks and portable electric chargers for battery electric vehicle trucks to make zero-emission technology accessible and more affordable to owners and operators of small trucking fleets. It will also pay for the installation of new automated terminal operating systems to reduce truck idling times.
• Georgia is receiving $15.3 million toward improvements at the Port of Savannah, including to build a large-scale charging project near the port, replace diesel-powered trucks, and expand the use of low-emission and zero-emission equipment.
• Florida is receiving $10 million for Talleyrand Marine Terminal in Jacksonville and the Port Everglades Terminal in Fort Lauderdale to replace diesel-powered trucks, while terminal improvements at the Seaboard Port of Miami will reduce truck idling time at the gates.
• Louisiana is receiving $7.1 million to purchase 14 new all-electric heavy-duty terminal trucks and five light-duty pickup trucks to replace diesel vehicles currently in use. Funding also will be used to upgrade electrical infrastructure and evaluate new emissions-reducing equipment.
• New Jersey is receiving $2.2 million to replace 20 diesel trucks with more efficient, environmentally friendly vehicles that run on clean, low-emitting propane fuel.

For more information on resources and best practices to address diesel emissions at ports, please visit EPA's Ports Initiative website.

Previous newsletters can be found here: EPA Ports Initiative Newsletter | US EPA