REMARKS AS PREPARED BY

MARITIME ADMINISTRATOR REAR ADM. (RET) ANN PHILLIPS

AT ODU Maritime Symposium

 

On behalf of the Department of Transportation and the Maritime Administration, I am so happy to be here today for this first Maritime Symposium, and to have this opportunity to update you on the work to improve port resilience and ensure the movement of goods that MARAD is implementing at this extraordinary moment! A special thank you to Associate VP for Maritime Initiatives, Elspeth McMahon, to ICAR Director Dr Jessica Whitehead, and Professor Carol Considine for inviting me today.  I wish I could be there in person with all of you! 

Let me start by thanking you for all that you do.  On behalf of the Department, I also thank every longshore worker and every person who works in or manages a port, or a shipyard, or drives a truck or a train, or works in a warehouse, for all that you do—and for all that you did to get us through the pandemic.  Your work is vital to our nation! 

For those of you who may not be familiar with the Maritime Administration, let me tell you a little about the agency.  We are actually older than the Department of Transportation in which we reside today—and through precursor agencies, our history stretches back to before World War I. 

Today, we promote the U.S. merchant marine.   

We administer the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.   

We own and maintain a fleet of civilian-crewed commercial-type vessels that are available to meet the military’s strategic sealift needs.  

And, of particular importance to this audience, we are administering the historic investments in our nation’s ports and waterways made possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

All with a staff of about 730 people split 1/3 at DOT HQ, 1/3 at USMMA, and 1/3 at our Fleet Support and Port Gateway sites around the US.  

This is truly an unprecedented time at MARAD and throughout the Department of Transportation.  Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are making once-in-a-generation investments in ports all around this nation. 

These investments have met an extraordinary moment when, as a result of the disruptions caused by COVID, Americans began to learn what “supply chains” are—and to appreciate the critical roles that our ports and international shipping play in moving the goods on which our economy depends. 

Put simply, our job at MARAD is to get these investments to work as quickly as possible—and to do so as thoughtfully and deliberately as we can to ensure that investments strengthen the resiliency of our supply chains, support equity, build a trained and diverse workforce, and address the many resilience needs and environmental impacts of port operations – which I will touch on later, including the disproportionate effects on low-income communities and communities of color. 

GRANT PROGRAMS 

As many of you know, American ports are eligible for funding under several of the Department of Transportation’s major infrastructure grant programs and, of course, under the Port Infrastructure Development Program and the United States Marine Highways program.   

Today, I want to talk briefly about these many grant opportunities. 

Let me start by discussing the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program, which provides support to help communities advance projects that modernize roads, bridges, transit and rail systems, ports, and intermodal transportation networks.  

Last year, our Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, announced that the Biden-Harris Administration had awarded RAISE funding to more than 160 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and ten of the projects receiving awards were port projects. 

All told, those ten port projects that received funding under the RAISE program were awarded more than $158 million in federal funds and have committed more than $93 million in matching funds.   

MULTIMODAL PROJECT DISCRETIONARY GRANT PROGRAM  

While there are many grant programs through which ports and waterways can seek funding, we also understand that submitting a competitive application is a time-consuming process.  The Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant Program or “MPDG” will continue in 2023 with approximately $2.8 billion available.  It is anticipated that the Notice of Funding Opportunity will be available this spring.   

The purpose of the MPDG is to reduce the workload on applicants and increase the pipeline of eligible projects by enabling entities to submit one application that can be considered under three different programs, including: 

the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America, or “INFRA;”  

the National Infrastructure Project Assistance grant program, known as “MEGA;” and  

the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program.  

The MPDG can provide Federal financial assistance to a wide range of projects that will improve freight movement, including marine highways, as well as multi-modal projects and projects of national and regional significance. 

TRUCK EMISSIONS PROGRAM 

I also want to mention that a new program was recently created to help reduce truck emissions at port facilities. This program is administered by one of our sister agencies—the Federal Highway Administration—and is providing up to $80 million per year in grants. The first Notice of Funding Opportunity will be published in the near future. 

PORT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM  

Now let me drill into the programs administered directly by the Maritime Administration, starting with the Port Infrastructure Development Program.  As I mentioned earlier, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a total of $2.25 billion in funding for PIDP. 

Last year, in 2022, the first round of PIDP funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was made available for award.  On top of that, $234 million dollars was provided for the PIDP program in Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations, and some unexpended funds from a prior year were also available.  All told, we awarded more than $700 million in PIDP grants last year—by far the largest single year of funding in the history of the program. 

In the late fall, we announced that the 2022 PIDP awards will fund 41 projects in 22 states and one territory.  Among the many awards: 

Get this: more than 60 percent of the PIDP awards made in 2022 benefit ports in historically disadvantaged communities.  More than $150 million in funding awarded last year focuses on port electrification to improve air quality.   

The Port of Virginia received a $20 M PIDP Grant in FY 2021 for the Portsmouth Marine Terminal.   

For Fiscal Year 2023, more than $662 million in Federal funding is available for MARAD’s Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).  Applications are due Friday, April 28, 2023. 

U.S. MARINE HIGHWAY PROGRAM 

We’re also making historic investments to support increased utilization of our nation’s inland and near coastal waterways to move freight.  

There are currently 29 Marine Highway Routes reaching 41 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories.  

Since 2010, the Marine Highways program has made 44 awards totaling approximately $91.3 million to 25 Designated Marine Highway services. 

Last year, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided a one-time infusion of $25 million in new funding for the Marine Highways program.   

This available funding was then increased to approximately $39 million following the addition of funds from the FY 2022 Appropriations measure. 

In 2022, we awarded that funding to 12 marine highway projects across the nation. Among the projects that received awards were the Virginia Port Authority, James River Terminal Expansion project $3.7M.  

And let me note that nearly all of the Marine Highway funding we awarded last year is supporting projects in Historically Disadvantaged Communities or Federally designated community development zones. 

This year, there is $12.4 million in funding available, and applications are due on April 28.  

Legislation passed by Congress late last year made significant changes to this program, including renaming the program from the “America’s Marine Highway Program” to the new “United States Marine Highway Program” and expanding the types of cargo that projects receiving funding under the program can support, adding cargo movements from US ports on Marine Highways to ports in Mexico and Canada, and finally, allowing rural projects and Tribal governments to request an increase to 100 percent of the project cost.   

Importantly, thanks to another change made in the FY 2023 NDAA, any eligible project along any of the 29 designated Marine Highway Route is eligible to apply for funding. 

OFFSHORE WIND 

Finally, let me also take a moment to explain that the investments made possible by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are also helping us address the climate crisis we face by significantly expanding our renewable energy capabilities, including offshore wind.  

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to reaching 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by the year 2030.  

Achieving this ambitious goal will trigger more than $12 billion per year in capital investment in projects, create tens of thousands of good-paying, union jobs, and employ more than 44,000 workers in offshore wind by 2030 while creating tens of thousands of additional jobs in communities supported by growth in the offshore wind industry.  

The Maritime Administration is supporting this effort in two ways. 

First, port projects that support offshore wind developments are eligible for funding under the Port Infrastructure Development Program. 

In fact, last year, nearly $100 million of the PIDP awards will support projects that will advance offshore wind farm development – largely East Coast focused.  

The Maritime Administration also provides loan guarantees to support ship construction in U.S. shipyards. 

For those who may not be familiar with it, the Federal Ship Financing Program—commonly called “Title XI” because of its location in the Merchant Marine Act of 1936—provides full faith and credit guarantees to promote the growth and modernization of the U.S. merchant marine and U.S. shipyards.   

The Title XI program has the ability to provide guaranteed loans for longer terms, higher loan-to-value amounts, and lower interest rates than are typically available through private lenders—and this program is available to help finance new construction or refinance vessels that are already constructed. 

Since 1993, Title XI has provided $9.3 billion in loan guarantees.  

The Title XI statute was amended in 2019 to make several important changes to the program.   

One change gave MARAD the authority to designate “Vessels of National Interest.”  This designation enables us to prioritize and expedite specific applications. 

I recently designated the vessels that service offshore wind farm facilities as Vessels of National Interest—and these are the first vessels to be designated under this authority.   

This designation reflects the Administration’s commitment to supporting construction of vessels to service offshore wind terminals. 

Several American shipyards have already secured contracts to build vessels to service offshore wind development—and we have had a surge in expressions of interest in the Title XI program since we announced the national interest designation for offshore wind vessels. 

Small Shipyard Grant Program 

MARAD also runs a Small Shipyard Grant Program, to support infrastructure improvements at qualified small U.S. shipyards, (less than 1200 employees – and meeting specific vessel construction criteria) to help improve their efficiency and ability to compete for domestic and international commercial ship construction and maintenance opportunities.  Investing in shipbuilding supports job creation in a vital domestic industrial base.  

AND these grants can also be used to support the acquisition of equipment that reduces climate impacts and adapts technologies that reduce shipyard power consumption.   

The Maritime Administration awarded $19.6 million to 24 shipyards in 19 states through the Small Shipyard Grant Program in FY 22.Including $900K to Fairlead Boatworks, Inc in Newport News to assist in procuring new equipment.  

This year we again have $20 M on offer.  Grants closed in February, and we anticipate award announcements later this spring.   

If any port here would like to learn more about any of these grant programs, I encourage you to be in touch with your local Gateway Office – Ms. Amanda Rutherford is our Mid Atlantic Gateway Director – or at one of our 10 gateways around the nation—and the staff at these offices are available to answer your questions and to explain in detail the timing of and qualifications for our many grant programs.  

These offices are intended to be a resource to you, and I urge you to get to know your local Gateway Director! 

CLOSING  

Recurrent themes throughout all of these grant and loan opportunities are improving our supply chain capacity and resilience, developing our workforce, and expanding our workforce opportunities and diversity, and preparing our maritime industry for the future needs of this nation.   

I know many of you in the audience are key leaders in the Hampton Roads Region’s maritime industry, and I know you are thinking about and planning for the resilience and future capacity of your businesses and your workforce.   

As Maritime Administrator, and as a former Special Asst to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection, I urge you to take advantage of the programs I discussed and others at the Federal level, as well as at the State and Local level to work together to build resilience and prepare yourselves and your workforce now for your future needs.  Do what you can today to build resilience - in particular to natural hazards – but to supply chain disruption broadly – this will serve you well in the future.   

Ladies and gentlemen, President Biden is leading a historic investment in our nation’s infrastructure—an investment that will help us not only improve mobility and strengthen our economy but also help us move to a better future.    

We at the Maritime Administration and throughout the Department of Transportation are bringing every tool we have to support the priorities I described today—and we appreciate the critical support of our partners.  

Thank you for the opportunity to join you today, and thank you for the critical discussions you are leading. I am sending my wishes for a successful Maritime Symposium, and may this first annual set the foundation for many ideas and collaborations to come!  

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