8 February 2023 (Lloyd's List) - THE US has announced more than $662m available funds in fiscal year 2023 for the Maritime Administration’s port infrastructure development programme. The investment will be used to modernise US ports and strengthen supply chains, Marad said. “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,” Maritime Administrator Ann Phillips said. “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.” The programme, which receives $450m annually from the 2021 infrastructure bill, provides discretionary grants to help selected applicants 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 said, adding it will also consider how projects nominated for funding address climate change and sustainability, equity, and workforce development objectives. Over $703m was awarded last year to 41 projects in 22 states and Guam. They included $68.7m for shoreline reconfiguration and realignment in port of Alaska in Anchorage, $17m for an export, expansion, and emission reduction project in Seattle’s terminal 5, and $48m for the Arthur Kill Offshore Wind Terminal project in New York. The deadline for applications is April 28. Marad noted that the Federal Highway Administration will open fiscal year 2022-2023 grant applications for its programme to reduce truck emission in ports in the coming weeks. It will make $160m 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.”