Port NOLA Announces $1 Million EPA Grant
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) a $1 million grant for the Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) sustainability management plan (SMP).
“This funding is a crucial investment in Louisiana’s future, supporting sustainable infrastructure and creating meaningful opportunities for our communities,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.). “The Louisiana International Terminal represents economic growth and a commitment to environmental stewardship and workforce development that will benefit Violet, St. Bernard Parish and the entire state.”
LIT will be built in Violet, La., about 17 miles downriver from the Crescent City Connection bridge in New Orleans, thus eliminating air draft restrictions for vessels that call on Port NOLA. The terminal will be able to handle the largest container vessels that traverse the Panama Canal locks, dramatically increasing Louisiana’s import and export capacity, fostering strategic inland growth and allowing both container-on-barge and intermodal services to expand.
The Port NOLA LIT SMP will follow the Envision framework to achieve sustainable, resilient and equitable infrastructure. Envision uses proven best practices that include environmental, social and economic considerations. The Envision verification process commonly produces direct community benefits that include significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, targets to reach carbon-neutral goals, reduction in water and energy usage, encouragement of sustainable material use, promotion of social equity and community cohesion and improvements in public health, safety and access to essential services. Envision also places a focus on creating local jobs, stimulating the economy and protecting habitats and mitigating impacts to the environment.
The EPA grant delivers funds to three community-based organizations to provide workforce development and educational opportunities for the Violet and St. Bernard Parish communities. Of the $1 million grant, the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development (CSED) will receive $100,000 to support professional development for local communities around sustainability education, Nunez Community College will receive $100,000 for port-sector educational programs and the Urban League of Louisiana (ULLA) will receive $225,000 for workforce development. An additional $100,000 will be used for Envision programming, $352,341 will go toward contractual support, and $122,659 will be allocated for Port NOLA administration and project events.
“We look forward to working with the Port of New Orleans to invest in our future maritime and logistics workforce,” Nunez Community College Chancellor Tina Tinney said. “This funding will allow us to provide relevant, local training, education and workforce development initiatives that will benefit the citizens of St. Bernard for generations to come.”
By 2050, the Louisiana International Terminal is expected to generate 32,000 new jobs nationwide, including more than 18,000 in Louisiana and more than 4,300 in St. Bernard Parish alone, as well as more than $1 billion in new state and local tax revenue.
“We want to thank the EPA and our federal delegation for this funding and for their ongoing support of the Louisiana International Terminal,” Port NOLA President & CEO Beth Branch said. “Port NOLA is committed to engaging the local community and protecting quality of life for Violet and St. Bernard Parish, as well as delivering a transformational project that will provide opportunities and economic prosperity for all Louisianians.”
In the 2024 regular session of the Louisiana Legislature, Gov. Jeff Landry and lawmakers committed $230.5 million to Port NOLA infrastructure projects including the Louisiana International Terminal. The state commitment follows $300 million in landmark federal funding awarded to Port NOLA last year to assist in building LIT, which represents the largest federal investment in a new container terminal in the history of the U.S. Department of Transportation. LIT has also garnered support from more than a dozen ports in six states as well as from major trade and agriculture associations throughout the heartland of America.
LIT will be built through a public-private partnership between Port NOLA and two private terminal operators: New Jersey-based Ports America, North America’s largest marine terminal operator, and Geneva, Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company, through its terminal development and investment arm, Terminal Investment Limited (TiL). Together, those two entities have committed $800 million toward the project.
LIT is currently in the federal permitting process. Construction is expected to begin in 2025.
