EPA Awards $412 Million to Port of LA for Zero-Emission Transformation
In what the EPA is calling an historic investment, it has awarded the Port of Los Angeles a $412 million grant from its Clean Ports Program to support the zero-emission (ZE) transition at the nation’s busiest trade gateway.
The Port and its private sector partners will match the EPA grant with an additional $236 million, bringing the total new investment in ZE programs at the Port of Los Angeles to $644 million.
“Replacing diesel-powered port and freight equipment with clean, zero-emission technologies will reduce pollution, improve health outcomes in communities that have suffered for too long, and help advance the campaign to address climate change,”said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman, in a statement
Zero-emission, battery-electric cargo-handling equipment purchases supported by the new grant funding will include:
• 337 yard tractors
• 56 top handlers
• 24 heavy duty forklifts
• 10 battery electric storage systems
• Two solar arrays
• 300+ chargers
• 250 drayage trucks
• Auto terminal vessel shore power AMP connection
Zero-emission initiatives supported by the EPA grant are expected to significantly reduce emissions from Port operations, decreasing annual emissions of NOx by 55 tons, PM2.5 by 1.5 tons and greenhouse gasses by 41,500 tons, and eliminating 3.5 million gallons of annual diesel fuel usage.
The EPA noted that the grant will set a new standard for environmental stewardship in the maritime industry by directly funding an innovative, community-led $50 million ZE grant program in partnership with the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation, prioritizing investments that benefit frontline, disadvantaged areas. Investments will be identified through a community-led outreach and selection process that prioritizes projects having the greatest emission reductions and their impact on neighborhoods surrounding the Port.
