Port Of Bellingham

Port Of Bellingham, a municipal port authority headquartered in Bellingham, Washington, receives federal grants from transportation and environmental agencies to fund airport and maritime infrastructure improvements and emissions-reduction initiatives; the vendor operates exclusively as a grant recipient (100% of recent awards) and does not compete for federal contracts.

Port Of Bellingham's federal footprint is dominated by infrastructure development grants from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Maritime Administration (MARAD) targeting Bellingham International Airport and the Bellingham Shipping Terminal. The FAA has awarded the port approximately $20 million in cumulative grants across multiple project phases — including runway lighting reconstruction, runway pavement rehabilitation, taxiway reconfiguration, snow removal equipment building construction, aircraft rescue and firefighting equipment acquisition, and airfield safety improvements. The most recent FAA grants include $9.78 million (May 2026, CFDA 20.116 Airport Improvement Program) for Phase 2 runway lighting and pavement rehabilitation, $1.33 million (August 2025, CFDA 20.106) for Phase 1 design of runway rehabilitation, and $1.07 million (July 2024) for a 1,500-gallon aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle. MARAD has awarded $17.931 million (September 2025, CFDA 20.819 Ballast Water Treatment Technologies) for design and construction of rail connections to reinstate on-dock rail service and direct BNSF mainline connectivity at the shipping terminal, and $812 thousand (April 2026, CFDA 20.117 Airport Infrastructure Grants) for Phase 2 runway infrastructure construction. The port also received $1.703 million (August 2024, CFDA 20.816 United States Marine Highway Grants) for design and construction of a portable barge ramp at the Bellingham Shipping Terminal to support the West Coast M-5 Coastal Connector barge service. Maritime infrastructure work includes a $6.656 million MARAD grant (August 2023, ultimate completion December 2029) for pier rehabilitation and dredging at the shipping terminal to repair structural components of berths 1 and 2 and remove mooring obstructions.

Environmental and climate resilience funding comes from the Environmental Protection Agency. The port received an Inflation Reduction Act grant from EPA Region 10 (December 2024, completion November 2028) for port-wide emissions inventory development, energy transition planning, and workforce engagement, with sub-awards to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for decarbonization analysis and strategic energy planning. A second EPA Region 10 grant (August 2024, completion July 2027) funds replacement of up to five older diesel-powered marine engines with EPA 2020-compliant engines across Whatcom County, with sub-awards to the Working Waterfront Coalition.

Recent annual award volume has been modest and stable — two awards each in 2025 and 2026, compared to five in 2024 and four in 2023 — with combined potential value across all 271 recent awards totaling $25.3 million against obligated federal funds of $180 million, indicating heavy draw-down on multi-year project grants. Three awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. The port's single sub-award on record is a fiber broadband infrastructure grant from the Washington State Executive Office (January 2023) for approximately 47 miles of middle and last mile fiber deployment in north Whatcom County. A minor Transportation Security Administration contract ($9,535.89, September 2021, closed) for installation of security roll-up door and grill at Bellingham International Airport represents the only visible federal contract prime award in the footprint.