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The Port Commission of The Port of Houston Authority (PHA) has authorized a program to distribute nearly $2.9 million in funds which will be partly used to assist ocean-going vessels in switching to cleaner fuels.

Commissioners approved administering $2.85 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds to benefit the Port of Houston maritime industry, through the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) grant program.

Chairman Jim Edmonds presided over the meeting with Commissioner Steve Phelps, Commissioner Jim Fonteno, Commissioner Kase Lawal, Commissioner Jimmy Burke, Commissioner Janiece Longoria, and Commissioner Elyse Lanier.

In addition to submitting its own grant application, the port authority submitted grant applications on behalf of local private maritime businesses totaling $14.58 million, for projects to replace, repower and retrofit cargo-handling equipment, drayage trucks, and marine vessels, and to assist ocean-going vessels in port switching to cleaner, low sulphur fuels.

The EPA awarded some funds directly to PHA for its own initiatives, and also awarded $2.85 million to PHA on behalf of the local maritime industry. PHA will report to EPA on the progress of the projects funded by the approved grant, and pass through the reimbursement funding for eligible projects from EPA to the local maritime industry.

The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities designed for handling general cargo, containers, grain and other dry bulk materials, project and heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo.

Each year, more than 8,000 vessel calls at the port, which ranks first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage and second in overall total tonnage.

Approximately 2.3 million tonnes of marine fuel are currently sold at the port each year with around 5 million tonnes being sold in the US Gulf in total.