PHA, Port Partners Granted DERA Funds

The Port of Houston Authority (PHA) along with eight other Houston Ship Channel industries are the recipients of more than $3.47 million in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Clean Diesel Campaign that provides funding through the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA), as part of the recently enacted nationwide economic stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

PHA has been awarded $611,466, while $2,856,666 has been awarded to eight port industrial partners.

The funds will go towards proposed PHA projects consisting of public private partnerships with eight port-related entities for replacement or repowering of older diesel equipment/engines with newer cleaner equipment/engines. The repower and replacement projects will be for eligible heavy-duty trucks, cargo-handling equipment, and a marine engine system.

The PHA plans to use a portion of the funding to augment a recently-granted Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) grant of $110,500 to replace the decades old engines and generator on the tour boat MV Sam Houston, which gives twice-daily public tours of the Houston Ship Channel. Last year, more than 39,000 toured the ship channel aboard the MV Sam Houston.

In addition, PHA plans to apply the remaining funds toward replacement of cargo-handling equipment with new, cleaner-burning diesel engines.

In the near future, additional opportunities will be made available through the EPA’s DERA program for applications to address emission reductions from port-related equipment.