The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Maritime Administration (MARAD) has made available $25 million in funding for America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP).
These new resources "represent the largest single appropriation of funding ever provided to the AMHP and were made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the Investment in Infrastructure and Jobs Act, which will make a $1.2 trillion investment in our nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness," a DOT news release said.
"This historic funding for the Marine Highways program will expand waterborne transportation options while helping project sponsors increase energy conservation, improve safety, reduce landside infrastructure costs, and reduce travel delays caused by congestion," Lucinda Lessley, acting administrator of the Maritime Administration, said. "This investment will also create well-paying maritime jobs.”
According to the DOT release, the AMHP supports the development and expanded use of America’s navigable waterways and will help improve our nation’s supply chains and the movement of goods throughout the country.
“America’s waterways are a vital means for getting goods onto our shelves and into our homes,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said in the release. “Thanks to these investments, and others like them in the president’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we can help create jobs, reduce delays, and strengthen our critical supply chains for decades to come.”
The AMHP supports the increased use of the nation’s navigable waterways to relieve landside congestion, provide new and efficient transportation options, and increase the productivity of the surface transportation system. Working alongside public and private organizations, the AMHP “helps create and sustain American jobs in U.S. ports, on vessels, and at shipyards, while also improving our supply chains," the release said.
To be eligible for a grant, a project must previously have been designated as a Marine Highway Project by the Secretary of Transportation. Applications for the grants are due on April 29 by 5 p.m. EST. Additional information is available at this site or by contacting Timothy Pickering, Office of Ports and Waterways Planning, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590, 202-366-0704.
