I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3446 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2009 

Ms. RICHARDSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Science and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Low-Emission 

5 Authorization Nationwide (CLEAN) Ports Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) According to the United States Census Bu2 reau, United States ports handled $3.95 trillion in 

3 international trade for an all-encompassing range of 

4 goods and services in fiscal year 2007, with nearly 

5 1.4 billion tons, valued at $1.4 trillion, in water6 borne imports and exports alone. 

7 (2) According to the United States Census Bu8 reau, United States ports generated more than 

9 $23.2 billion in United States Customs duty reve10 nues in fiscal year 2007, representing 70 percent of 

11 all Customs duties collected. 

12 (3) According to the Environmental Protection 

13 Agency, the transportation sector accounted for 

14 about 27 percent of the total United States green15 house gas emissions in 2003, up from 24.8 percent 

16 in 1990. 

17 (4) According to the California Air Resources 

18 Board’s Diesel Particulate Matter Exposure Assess19 ment, which includes our Nation’s largest port com20 plex, marine emissions account for 30 percent of all 

21 diesel particulate matter in California. 

22 (5) According to a 2009 report published in 

23 Environmental Science and Technology, at least 

24 2,000 to 5,000 premature deaths per year in the 


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1 continental United States are caused by particulate 

2 pollution from oceangoing vessels. 

3 (6) According to the Department of Energy, 

4 transportation energy use is expected to increase 48 

5 percent between 2003 and 2025, despite modest im6 provements in the efficiency of vehicle engines. 

7 (7) According to a recent study conducted by 

8 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra9 tion, it is estimated that 0.9 teragrams, or about 2.2 

10 million pounds, of particle pollution are emitted each 

11 year from shipping vessels on a global basis. 

12 (8) Using on-dock clean technologies such as 

13 smoke stack filtration, cold ironing, and low-emis14 sion port vehicles can remove up to 95 percent of ni15 trogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter 

16 from the engines and boilers of vessels while at 

17 berth. 

18 (9) Using low-emission rail yard locomotives 

19 can cut air emissions by up to 80 percent and re20 duce diesel fuel use by 16 percent compared to con21 ventional diesel-powered locomotives used in switch22 ing service. 

23 (10) In the past years, the Nation’s busiest 

24 port complex, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long 

25 Beach, have achieved major pollution reductions 


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1 through the implementation of clean port tech2 nologies. Examples include the percent of vessel calls 

3 that switched to a cleaner fuel for auxiliary engines 

4 at berth, 100 percent in 2007 as compared to 14 

5 percent in 2005, and over 30 percent reduction in 

6 particulate matter emissions in just two years. Both 

7 ports are on target of cutting diesel-related particu8 late matter (PM) pollution by more than 47 percent, 

9 sulfur oxides (SOx) by more than 52 percent, and 

10 smog forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 

11 more than 45 percent within the next five years. 

12 (11) It is in the national interest of the United 

13 States to encourage and facilitate the acquisition 

14 and use of fuel efficient and low emission tech15 nologies and vehicles to reduce fuel use and pollution 

16 at and near ports, and enact environmentally friend17 ly shipping regulations such as lowering vessel 

18 speeds coming into and out of ports, which mitigate 

19 the environmental damage to the air quality in and 

20 around America’s port communities. 

21 SEC. 3. CLEAN TECHNOLOGY AND VEHICLES AT SEAPORTS. 

22 (a) COMPETITIVE GRANTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor24 tation shall develop and administer competitive 


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1 grants for seaport governing bodies, including har2 bor commissions and port authorities. 

3 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant 

4 under paragraph (1), a seaport governing body 

5 shall— 

6 (A) demonstrate to the Secretary the need 

7 for the grant; 

8 (B) demonstrate how the funding will be 

9 used; 

10 (C) specify what environmental, air qual11 ity, and fuel use reduction benefits will result 

12 from the project for which the funding is 

13 sought; and 

14 (D) specify how the programs or equip15 ment will work, including the amount of the 

16 grant funding that would be distributed to each 

17 project. 

18 (3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under 

19 this section, the Secretary shall give preference to 

20 seaport governing bodies who can demonstrate a 

21 pattern of successful implementation of energy use 

22 and pollution reduction activities. 

23 (b) PURPOSES.—Funds made available under this 

24 section may be used for the following purposes: 

25 (1) MARITIME PURPOSES.— 


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1 (A) The purchase of low-sulfur burning 

2 fuels to be used within a 40 mile radius of sea3 ports. 

4 (B) The purchase of smokestack filtration 

5 systems to be used on vessel smokestacks while 

6 at berth. 

7 (C) The purchase of ‘‘Cold-ironing or Ship8 to-Shore’’ electrical power equipment to plug 

9 into vessels while at berth. 

10 (D) The purchase of hybrid tug boats. 

11 (2) ON-DOCK TRANSPORTATION.— 

12 (A) The building or expansion of pre13 existing on-dock rail systems. 

14 (B) The purchase of low-emission rail yard 

15 locomotives. 

16 (C) The purchase or retrofit of fuel effi17 cient or low-carbon emitting port vehicles such 

18 as trucks, forklifts, and front-end loaders. 

19 (D) The purchase of diesel-electric con20 tainer yard cranes. 

21 (3) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—Up to 10 

22 percent of the amounts appropriated for carrying 

23 out this section may be used to fund research and 

24 development of fuel efficient port vehicle or vessel 

25 technologies that— 


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1 (A) reduce carbon dioxide emissions; 

2 (B) increase fuel efficiency in local port 

3 fleets; and 

4 (C) lead to the increased production of fuel 

5 efficient or clean vehicles from the American 

6 manufacturing industry. 

7 (4) MONITORING EQUIPMENT.—The purchase 

8 or retrofitting of preexisting air monitoring equip9 ment that measures the level of air pollution such as 

10 sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon mon11 oxide in and around ports. 

12 (c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

13 of activities for which a grant is made under this section 

14 shall not exceed 90 percent. 

15 (d) APPLICATION FOR GRANTS.—The Secretary of 

16 Transportation shall develop an application process for 

17 grants under this section within 120 days after the date 

18 of enactment of this Act. 

19 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Decem20 ber 31, 2011, and annually thereafter during the term of 

21 the competitive grant program, the Secretary of Transpor22 tation shall submit to Congress a report on applications 

23 submitted, activities approved for funding, and the results 

24 of the competitive grant program, including the effects of 

25 the program on mitigating environmental damage. 


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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

3 sums as may be necessary for carrying out this section. 

Æ 


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