Topline
The White House on Tuesday sent $14 billion in freshly appropriated funds—stemming largely from the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan signed into law in November—to fund more than 500 projects targeting the nation’s ports and waterways across all 50 states this year, giving the most details to date as to how the money will be used to help combat climate change and ease supply chain constraints plaguing the market.
President Joe Biden speaks about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law at the South Court Auditorium in … [+]
Key Facts
As part of $9 billion secured from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan for projects this year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday it will use $4 billion to expand capacity at the nation’s largest ports, including the Port of Long Beach in California and Norfolk Harbor in Virginia, by widening channels to accommodate more, and larger, ships.
The Biden Administration will also provide $858 million to help replace locks that keep water levels high enough for large cargo ships to pass through the upper Ohio River west of Pittsburgh, and another $470 million to complete construction of a similar lock system along St. Mary’s River in Michigan—a main passageway for domestically produced iron ore.
Another $5.5 billion from the infrastructure package will go toward efforts to mitigate climate change this year, including a $1.1 billion investment—the largest for any of the projects—to restore the Everglades in Florida by capturing excess surface water that’s fueled an algal bloom crisis in the region.
Nearly half the funds have been allocated to communities deemed disadvantaged by the Biden Administration, including $163 million to restore the Cano Martin Pena urban tidal channel in Puerto Rico, $40 million to restore aquatic habitats in New Mexico’s Espanola Valley and $28 million to prevent coastal erosion of Kenai River Bluff in Alaska.
The Biden Administration will also invest more than $5.7 billion this year from the Disaster Relief and Supplemental Appropriations Act signed in September for recovery efforts after major storms, including $3.3 billion in funding for Louisiana, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania—where Hurricane Ida caused some $20 billion in damage last September.
Other big-ticket investments include $830 million and $465 million for lock systems and dam construction in the upper Mississippi River and Tennessee River, respectively.
Big Number
$17 billion. That’s how much the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocated toward ports and waterways over the next five years. The White House has yet to say how it will allocate funds after this year.
Key Background
Heightened consumer spending during the pandemic has unleashed a rash of supply chain constraints for the nation’s manufacturers. The Port of Los Angeles, part of the nation’s largest port complex, processed a record 10.7 million 20-foot containers last year, up 13% from a previous record set in 2018—all while as many as 100 ships have been anchored off the shore waiting to dock. Biden touted progress after the holiday season, pointing to retail inventories climbing 3% from one year prior and improving delivery times for FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service, but port officials across the country still aren’t celebrating. “No one is taking a victory lap,” Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told the LA Times last week, saying worker shortages have made it difficult to keep ports open around the clock.
Further Reading
100 Stranded Ships, 10-Week Delays And 8 Million Unmade Cars: A Look At America’s Supply Chain Woes (Forbes)
Everything In The $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill: New Roads, Electric School Buses And More (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2022/01/19/biden-invests-14-billion-in-us-ports-and-waterways-in-bid-to-combat-climate-change-and-ease-supply-chain-constraints-heres-where-the-funds-will-go/