To provide for a competitive program making grants to seaport governing bodies for the acquisition of fuel efficient and low emission equipment and systems at port facilities.

Summary: Clean Low-Emission Authorization Nationwide (CLEAN) Ports Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to award competitive grants to seaport governing bodies (including harbor commissions and port authorities) for the acquisition of fuel efficient and low-emission equipment and systems at port facilities, with a preference to seaport governing bodies that can demonstrate a pattern of successful implementation of energy use and pollution reduction activities.

Sets aside up to 10% of federal funding to carry out this Act for research and development of fuel efficient port vehicle or vessel technologies that reduce carbon dioxide emissions, increase fuel efficiency in local port fleets, and lead to increased domestic production of fuel efficient or clean vehicles.

Sets the federal share of costs for such activities at no more than 90%.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Clean Low-Emission Authorization 
Nationwide (CLEAN) Ports Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the United States Census Bureau, United 
        States ports handled $3.95 trillion in international trade for 
        an all-encompassing range of goods and services in fiscal year 
        2007, with nearly 1.4 billion tons, valued at $1.4 trillion, in 
        waterborne imports and exports alone.
            (2) According to the United States Census Bureau, United 
        States ports generated more than $23.2 billion in United States 
        Customs duty revenues in fiscal year 2007, representing 70 
        percent of all Customs duties collected.
            (3) According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
        transportation sector accounted for about 27 percent of the 
        total United States greenhouse gas emissions in 2003, up from 
        24.8 percent in 1990.
            (4) According to the California Air Resources Board's 
        Diesel Particulate Matter Exposure Assessment, which includes 
        our Nation's largest port complex, marine emissions account for 
        30 percent of all diesel particulate matter in California.
            (5) According to a 2009 report published in Environmental 
        Science and Technology, at least 2,000 to 5,000 premature 
        deaths per year in the continental United States are caused by 
        particulate pollution from oceangoing vessels.
            (6) According to the Department of Energy, transportation 
        energy use is expected to increase 48 percent between 2003 and 
        2025, despite modest improvements in the efficiency of vehicle 
        engines.
            (7) According to a recent study conducted by the National 
        Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it is estimated that 
        0.9 teragrams, or about 2.2 million pounds, of particle 
        pollution are emitted each year from shipping vessels on a 
        global basis.
            (8) Using on-dock clean technologies such as smoke stack 
        filtration, cold ironing, and low-emission port vehicles can 
        remove up to 95 percent of nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and 
        particulate matter from the engines and boilers of vessels 
        while at berth.
            (9) Using low-emission rail yard locomotives can cut air 
        emissions by up to 80 percent and reduce diesel fuel use by 16 
        percent compared to conventional diesel-powered locomotives 
        used in switching service.
            (10) In the past years, the Nation's busiest port complex, 
        the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, have achieved major 
        pollution reductions through the implementation of clean port 
        technologies. Examples include the percent of vessel calls that 
        switched to a cleaner fuel for auxiliary engines at berth, 100 
        percent in 2007 as compared to 14 percent in 2005, and over 30 
        percent reduction in particulate matter emissions in just two 
        years. Both ports are on target of cutting diesel-related 
        particulate matter (PM) pollution by more than 47 percent, 
        sulfur oxides (SOx) by more than 52 percent, and smog forming 
        nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by more than 45 percent within 
        the next five years.
            (11) It is in the national interest of the United States to 
        encourage and facilitate the acquisition and use of fuel 
        efficient and low emission technologies and vehicles to reduce 
        fuel use and pollution at and near ports, and enact 
        environmentally friendly shipping regulations such as lowering 
        vessel speeds coming into and out of ports, which mitigate the 
        environmental damage to the air quality in and around America's 
        port communities.

SEC. 3. CLEAN TECHNOLOGY AND VEHICLES AT SEAPORTS.

    (a) Competitive Grants.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Transportation shall 
        develop and administer competitive grants for seaport governing 
        bodies, including harbor commissions and port authorities.
            (2) Eligibility.--To be eligible for a grant under 
        paragraph (1), a seaport governing body shall--
                    (A) demonstrate to the Secretary the need for the 
                grant;
                    (B) demonstrate how the funding will be used;
                    (C) specify what environmental, air quality, and 
                fuel use reduction benefits will result from the 
                project for which the funding is sought; and
                    (D) specify how the programs or equipment will 
                work, including the amount of the grant funding that 
                would be distributed to each project.
            (3) Preference.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
        Secretary shall give preference to seaport governing bodies who 
        can demonstrate a pattern of successful implementation of 
        energy use and pollution reduction activities.
    (b) Purposes.--Funds made available under this section may be used 
for the following purposes:
            (1) Maritime purposes.--
                    (A) The purchase of low-sulfur burning fuels to be 
                used within a 40 mile radius of seaports.
                    (B) The purchase of smokestack filtration systems 
                to be used on vessel smokestacks while at berth.
                    (C) The purchase of ``Cold-ironing or Ship-to-
                Shore'' electrical power equipment to plug into vessels 
                while at berth.
                    (D) The purchase of hybrid tug boats.
            (2) On-dock transportation.--
                    (A) The building or expansion of preexisting on-
                dock rail systems.
                    (B) The purchase of low-emission rail yard 
                locomotives.
                    (C) The purchase or retrofit of fuel efficient or 
                low-carbon emitting port vehicles such as trucks, 
                forklifts, and front-end loaders.
                    (D) The purchase of diesel-electric container yard 
                cranes.
            (3) Research and development.--Up to 10 percent of the 
        amounts appropriated for carrying out this section may be used 
        to fund research and development of fuel efficient port vehicle 
        or vessel technologies that--
                    (A) reduce carbon dioxide emissions;
                    (B) increase fuel efficiency in local port fleets; 
                and
                    (C) lead to the increased production of fuel 
                efficient or clean vehicles from the American 
                manufacturing industry.
            (4) Monitoring equipment.--The purchase or retrofitting of 
        preexisting air monitoring equipment that measures the level of 
        air pollution such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and 
        carbon monoxide in and around ports.
    (c) Federal Share.--The Federal share of the cost of activities for 
which a grant is made under this section shall not exceed 90 percent.
    (d) Application for Grants.--The Secretary of Transportation shall 
develop an application process for grants under this section within 120 
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (e) Report to Congress.--Not later than December 31, 2011, and 
annually thereafter during the term of the competitive grant program, 
the Secretary of Transportation shall submit to Congress a report on 
applications submitted, activities approved for funding, and the 
results of the competitive grant program, including the effects of the 
program on mitigating environmental damage.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may be necessary for 
carrying out this section.