Provide funding under the inflation reduction act (IRA) to port freeport

This Project Grant award, provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Ports Program (CFDA 66.051), will fund Port Freeport in Texas to undertake a series of activities to improve air quality and reduce pollution in Brazoria County. The key activities include: 1) Assessing the inventory of emissions monitoring equipment, 2) Evaluating climate change vulnerabilities and identifying measures to protect port equipment, 3) Expanding stakeholder engagement processes for climate and air quality planning, 4) Engaging port workers on these planning activities, 5) Preparing and publishing documents summarizing the results, and 6) Demonstrating the port's current and needed capacity for electric equipment installation. The total funding amount is $1,487,000.00, with a performance period from February 1, 2025 to March 31, 2028. This grant award will help Port Freeport build a foundation to transition to zero-emissions operations and serve as a catalyst for reducing mobile source pollution in nearby communities.

Description

The purpose of this award is to provide funding under the inflation reduction act (IRA) to port freeport. Specifically, the recipient will conduct the following activities to improve air quality and reduce pollution in brazoria county, freeport, texas: - assess inventory of all equipment used for emissions monitoring within the organization. - assess climate change vulnerabilities and identify priority measures to protect port equipment from climate impacts. - expand on a formal process to solicit input from communities and other stakeholders on climate and air quality planning activities - engage port workers on climate and air quality planning activities - prepare and publish documents summarizing results of climate and air quality planning activities - show current and needed capacity for installation of electric equipment port freeport ('the port') plans to build a foundation to transition to zero emissions (ZE) operations, positioning the port to serve as a catalyst for transformational change across local freight operations and reduce mobile source pollution in near-port communities. Activities:the activities include: - assess inventory of all equipment used for emissions monitoring within the organization. - assess climate change vulnerabilities and identify priority measures to protect port equipment from climate impacts. - expand on a formal process to solicit input from communities and other stakeholders on climate and air quality planning activities - engage port workers on climate and air quality planning activities - prepare and publish documents summarizing results of climate and air quality planning activities - show current and needed capacity for installation of electric equipment. Subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:the anticipated deliverables include: - completed equipment inventory of port freeport and stakeholders. - plan to increase resiliency of port - number of residents and community-based organizations participating - number of events and tools supporting engagement with community to ensure their meaningful participation with respect to the design, planning, and performance of the project - plan to prepare the current workforce for impacts of future technologies/projects. - plan a course of action for workforce development initiatives to train current and incoming workers - sliding scale plan to show when additional capacity will be required. - publicly available document summarizing in detail the results of planning activities. The expected outcomes include: - increased understanding of current port emissions and areas of potential improvement through equipment. Baseline to encourage implementation of emission reducing technologies and track impacts. - increased capacity to improve resiliency to current and future climate change impacts. - increased stakeholder participation in port planning and decision-making impacting environmental justice - improved ability to incorporate community perspectives into decision-making - workers have better understanding of how their roles may evolve - worker voice is incorporated into decision-making - worker safety and job quality is prioritized - increased confidence in ability to execute larger scale equipment transitions. - increased transparency in planning activities, including public-facing list of contacts by name and title for public questions and comments. The intended beneficiaries include: - the communities within brazoria county, freeport, texas