Intergovernmental Updates
Virtual Listening Session on Columbia River Treaty Regime The United States and Canada conducted the 16th round of Columbia River Treaty regime negotiations from March 22-23 in Washington, D.C. The Columbia River Treaty is an international agreement between the United States and Canada ratified in 1964 to coordinate flood control and power generation in the Columbia River Basin. Efforts to modernize the treaty to reflect the current value of power and flood control operations and support healthy ecosystems began in 2013 and have included numerous rounds of formal negotiations between the two countries. While the treaty has no specified end date, it contains provisions that will change its implementation in 2024.

The U.S. Government will hold a virtual listening session to engage the public about treaty regime modernization on April 19 from 5:00-6:30pm (PST). You may register here.
Clean Ports Program webpage EPA has released a Clean Ports Program webpage with the latest information on the development of the new program created through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. This program provides EPA with $3 billion to fund zero-emission port equipment and technology and to help ports develop climate action plans to reduce air pollutants at U.S. ports.
Water Resources Development Act of 2024 The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), typically considered by Congress every two years, is legislation that authorizes U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) civil works activities. WRDA provisions generally add to or amend existing USACE authorizations and provide policy direction to the agency.

We are starting to develop concepts for consideration for WRDA 2024. Please contact Ray Bucheger and myself if you have policy challenges that may be addressed through WRDA so we can discuss further.
Federal Appropriations Update President Joe Biden released his FY 2024 budget documents earlier this month. The $6.9 trillion budget request includes a 6.5% increase in nondefense discretionary spending and a 3% increase in total defense spending. The release of the President’s budget signals the unofficial start to the appropriations process. Congress is ultimately responsible for passing FY24 spending legislation for the coming fiscal year which runs October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024.

The deadlines to submit Congressionally Directed Spending (Senate) and Community Project Funding (House) requests for the FY24 spending bills have passed.

You may recall the FY23 omnibus appropriations package was passed at the end of last year. After the passage of the appropriations bill, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has sixty days to provide Congress with a workplan detailing how it will spend discretionary pots of funding provided in the appropriations bill. USACE released their FY23 workplan February 28th. The plan included additional funding for Oregon ports, including $250,000 for wave buoy evaluation at Tillamook Bay & Bar (Port of Garibaldi) and $2.249 million for Yaquina River Dredging (Port of Toledo). Many thanks to Ray Bucheger and the team at FBB Federal Relations as well as partners including PNWA for their continued hard work to secure funds for dredging and infrastructure needs for Oregon ports.
Resources
Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program The Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program (CFI Program) is a new competitive grant program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) focused on deploying electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and other alternative fueling infrastructure projects in publicly accessible locations. This program provides two categories of grants: (1) Community Charging and Fueling Grants (Community Program); and (2) Alternative Fuel Corridor Grants (Corridor Program). The BIL provides $2.5 billion for this program over five years. The current NOFO offers up to $700 million from FY22 and FY23.

Special districts, including ports, are eligible to apply. Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. EST on May 30, 2023. More information and the NOFO can be found here.
MARAD U.S. Marine Highway Program The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) making $12,423,000 in FY23 funds available through the U.S. Marine Highway Program (USMHP), previously named America’s Marine Highway Program. The USMHP seeks to increase the use of America’s navigable waterways, especially where water-based transport is the most efficient, effective and sustainable option.

Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov by 11:59pm EST on April 28, 2023. The NOFO is available here.
FEMA Port Security Grant Program In FY23, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is providing $100 million to promote sustainable, risk-based efforts to protect critical port infrastructure from acts of terrorism through the Port Security Grant Program. The FY23 program is focused on supporting increased maritime cybersecurity, port-wide maritime security risk management, enhancing maritime domain awareness, supporting maritime security training and exercises and maintaining or reestablishing maritime security mitigation protocols that support port recovery and resilience capabilities.

More information about the Port Security Grant Program and a link to the NOFO are available here. Applications are due May 18, 2023.
MARAD Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) MARAD has released the full Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the FY23 Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP). There is approximately $662 million in FY23 PIDP grant funding available. Past webinar recordings are available here.

PIDP grant funds are awarded on a competitive basis to projects the improve the safety, efficiency, or reliability of the movement of goods into, out of, around, or within a port. The PIDP provides funding to ports in both urban and rural areas for planning and capital projects. It also includes a statutory set-aside for small ports to continue to improve and expand their capacity to move freight reliably and efficiently and support local and regional economies. Applications for the FY23 NOFO are due on April 28, 2023.
ODOT Carbon Reduction Program The Carbon Reduction Program is a new federal program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will provide the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) $82 million over five years to fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. The funding is divided between urban Transportation management areas, ODOT statewide projects and small urban and rural areas.

This year $13 million is available under an ODOT-managed competitive grant program to small urban and rural projects. Eligible projects must reduce emissions from transportation and be in urban and rural areas of the state with populations fewer than 200,000. Examples of eligible projects include alternative fuel projects, including public EV charging, hydrogen, natural gas and propane fueling and zero-emission equipment and vehicle purchase; projects that reduce transportation emissions at port facilities, including EV infrastructure; and diesel engine retrofits. More information about the program and the application process is available here. The application window is open between February 28 and May 31, 2023.
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Local Government Grant Program (LGGP) The Local Government Grant Program (LGGP) is a State lottery funded grant program administrated by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Eligible applicants include local government agencies that are obligated by state law to provide public recreation facilities, including port districts. Eligible projects involve land acquisition, development and major rehabilitative projects that are consistent with the outdoor recreation goals and objectives contained in the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP).

Additional information including the grant manual, application materials and deadlines can be found here.
RARE AmeriCorps Program The Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) AmeriCorps program hosted by the University of Oregon is accepting applications for host organizations for the 2023-2024 program year. The mission of the RARE program is to increase the capacity of rural communities to improve their economic, social, and environmental conditions through the assistance of trained graduate-level members who live and work in communities for 11 months. Special districts, including ports, are eligible to host a RARE member.

More information about applying to become a RARE host organization is available here. Host organization applications are due April 7, 2023.

The RARE program requires $25,000 in match funding from host organizations. The Port Planning and Marketing Fund (PPMF) has been used for this purpose in the past. Reach out to your Regional Development Officer if your port is interested in pursuing a PPMF grant to support a RARE member.
SDAO Internship Program The SDAO Internship Grant Program provides matching grants to SDAO members to hire college-level students to assist the special district in meeting or improving loss control and best practices. The grant is not intended to fund routine maintenance needs or normal staffing requirements, but to help with project needs.

Interns must be hired by the district as temporary employees to be in compliance with wage and hour laws relative to compensating student interns. The maximum grant per district $3,000 and requires a 50 percent match. More information and the application can be found here.
Business Oregon Support If your port is interested in applying for a federal grant opportunity, Business Oregon may be able to help! We would be happy to provide more background on the programs with current NOFOs, help you assess your readiness to submit an application, connect you to federal agency and/or Congressional staff who can provide additional assistance, provide a letter of support for your application, and more.
Oregon Public Ports Federal Coordinating Committee (OPPFCC)
  The OPPFCC met on March 31st. The group discussed the recent PNWA Mission to Washington, FY24 appropriations cycle updates, implementation of the WRDA 2022 marina dredging provision and started discussing policy concepts for consideration for WRDA 2024.
Oregon Public Ports Dredging Partnership (OPPDP)
  The OPPDP met on March 22nd. This month’s meeting focused on selection of the annual dredging project. Partnership members provided feedback on a draft of the “Oregon Dredging Needs Cost Summary,” a document that will ultimately capture dredging needs (local and federal channel) and associated costs across the statewide port system. USACE also provided an update on projected federal dredging activity in the upcoming calendar year.
Oregon Public Ports Training Program (OPPTP)
  On March 14th Meg Reed with DLCD’s Oregon Coastal Management Program shared information about DLCD’s Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning Tool Kit. Oregon’s coastlines are vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise. DLCD developed tools to assist local communities in planning for these impacts, including the Sea Level Rise Impact Explorer; Sea Level Rise Impact Assessment Tool; and Sea Level Rise Planning Guide for Coastal Oregon.

The first Maritime Minds session of 2023 was held on March 27th. The 2022 Oregon State Legislature directed Business Oregon to conduct five emerging industry market studies. As part of this body of work, Business Oregon contracted with ERG, Inc. to complete a market study on the Blue Economy and Ocean Resources in Oregon. Jennifer Lam and Diana Petri of ERG joined Maritime Minds this month to share their findings. You can find the two-page summary and full report here.
Stories of Interest
Feds tell planners of new I-5 bridge they must include lift to allow taller ships Planners in charge of the new Interstate 5 bridge project were told by federal regulators in late February they must include plans for a “moveable span” on the bridge. The bridge as currently planned may be too short to accommodate ships on the Columbia River without a lift. Planning for a lift doesn’t mean the bridge will have one, however. A final design decision has not been made as project planners continue to negotiate with impacted companies.
Pacific fishery council calls for new start to Oregon wind planning At its March meeting, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to recommend the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) set aside the proposed offshore wind energy areas off the Oregon Coast and begin the planning process anew. Specifically, the council requested, “that BOEM restart the process to identify call areas and consider all water off Oregon from 12 miles and beyond, including waters that are greater than 1,300 meters in water depth, and using marine spatial planning tools to minimize siting impacts to fisheries and ecosystem resources.” Fishing advocates praised the council’s position.
Much of Oregon faces ‘devastating’ salmon fishing ban The ocean salmon fishing season is set to be prohibited this year off California and much of Oregon for the second time in 15 years after adult fall-run Chinook returned to California’s rivers in near record-low numbers in 2022. The Pacific Fishery Management Council, the authority responsible for setting ocean salmon seasons off the Pacific coast, is expected in April to formally approve its proposed closure of Chinook fishing along the coast from Cape Falcon in northern Oregon to the California-Mexico border. Though the closure will deal a blow to the industry that supports tens of thousands of jobs, few are disputing it.
Ports Programming
Port Planning and Marketing Fund (PPMF) More information can be found in the Port Planning and Marketing Fund Guide on the PPMF webpage. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or your Regional Development Officer if you have questions.

Current fund balance as of March 2023: $208,000
Oregon Port Revolving Fund (OPRF) More information can be found in the Oregon Port Revolving Fund Guide on the OPRF webpage. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or your Regional Development Officer if you have questions.

Current fund balance as of March 2023: $5.8 million
Save the Date
April 2023 April 5th – Oregon Public Ports Training Program, Patty Martin, Oregon Coast Visitors Association

April 14th – Oregon Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (OAH) Symposium, Newport

April 20th – PNWA Monthly Membership Meeting

April 26th – Oregon Public Ports Dredging Partnership

April 28th – Oregon Public Ports Federal Coordinating Committee
 

Save the Date!

Oregon Infrastructure Summit

Oregon State University | Corvallis, Oregon | September 27-28, 2023

Presented jointly by Business Oregon and the Northwest Environmental Business Council, this unique educational event connects property owners, developers, community leaders, regulators, financiers, and service providers to share the latest knowledge and best practices, develop business concepts, and foster partnerships.

For more information about past Infrastructure Summit agendas, please visit https://theoregonsummit.com.