From left, Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, and Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka took a harbor boat tour on Thursday, March 14, 2024, to discuss new federal EPA grant funding to cut pollution at the nation’s ports. (Contributing photographer Chuck Bennett)
EPA Administrator Michael Regan was joined by lawmakers and other guests for a boat tour on Thursday, March 14, to discuss a $3 billion federal grant program to help cut pollution in the nations’ ports. (Contributing photographer Chuck Bennett)
EPA Administrator Michael Regan talks with Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka during a boat tour of Los Angeles Harbor on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Contributing photographer Chuck Bennett)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan talks with Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka, center and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass during a harbor tour on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Contributing photographer Chuck Bennett)
EPA Administrator Michael Regan, far right, talks with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on boat tour of Los Angeles Harbor on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Contributing photographer Chuck Bennett)
EPA Administrator Michael Regan, far right, on boat tour of L.A. Harbor with Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker, left, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Contributing photographer Chuck Bennett)
EPA Administrator Michael Regan, far right, talks with Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka, left, Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on an LA Harbor boat tour on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Contributing photographer Chuck Bennett)
EPA Administrator Michael Regan talks with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass during a boat tour of Los Angeles Harbor on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Contributing photographer Chuck Bennett)
EPA Administrator Michael Regan, second from right, takes in the sights on a tour of L.A. Harbor, with, from left, Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka on March 14, 2024. (Contributing photographer Chuck Bennett)
EPA Administrator Michael Regan talks with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on a boat tour of Los Angeles Harbor. He was in town to highlight funding for tackling pollution Impacts from ports. March 14, 2024. (Contributing photographer Chuck Bennett)
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan visited the Port of Los Angeles on Thursday, March 14 — to announce a new $3 billion Clean Ports program.
Regan met with port officials and media on Thursday and took a boat tour of the L.A. Harbor before holding a shoreside news conference at the Wilmington Waterfront to discuss the new funding.
The grant application deadline is May 28, with single applications capped at $500 million. Both the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are expected to apply.
The program is designed to help ports nationwide transition to fully zero-emissions operations and, Regan said, his visit to the nation’s busiest port — though not his first — helps him to “see things first hand.”
“I’ve been laser-focused” on the commitment to reduce pollution at the nation’s ports, Regan said, but getting the job done will take investments from a wide swath of the public and private sectors.
The new grant funding is also geared to help residents living around major ports, as pollution levels have especially impacted those communities, Regan said.
Other speakers on Thursday were Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass; U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-San Pedro; Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker, and Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka.
In her remarks, Barragan stressed that protecting port jobs was paramount, adding that it is the difference between speaking about automation and electrification, the latter of which requires human operators.
The port faces some looming deadlines to transition terminal equipment to zero emissions by 2030 and the drayage truck fleet by 2035.
“This is super complex,” Seroka said. “It’s layered and it’s nuanced.
While the new federal program won’t fund all of the changes that need to happen, Regan said, the money will certainly help.
“These resources are a huge shot in the arm,” Regan said.
Seroka and his counterpart at the Port of Long Beach, CEO Mario Cordero, praised the new influx of grant money earlier this month.
“It’s crucial,” Cordero said in a written statement a week ago, “to ensure that the nearly $3 billion in funding goes toward impactful, real-world decarbonization projects.”
