EPA Awards Port NOLA $1MM Grant to Support LIT Sustainability Management Plan

The LIT will be built in Violet, La., 17 miles downriver from the Crescent City Connection bridge, eliminating air draft restrictions for vessels that call 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, foster strategic inland growth and allow both container-on-barge and intermodal services to expand,” according to the Port.

The Port NOLA LIT SMP will follow the Envision framework to achieve “sustainable, resilient, and equitable infrastructure,” the Port noted. Envision uses proven best practices that include environmental, social, and economic considerations.

According to Port NOLA, the Envision verification process commonly produces direct community benefits, including:

• “Significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and provides targets to reach carbon-neutral goals.
• “Reduction in water and energy usage, encouragement of sustainable material use.
• “Promotion of social equity and community cohesion, improvements in public health, safety, and access to essential services.
• “Focus on creating local jobs and stimulating the economy, as the project is cost-effective and leads to long-term operational efficiencies.
• “Protection of habitats and mitigation of impacts.”

The EPA grant delivers funds to three community-based organizations to help equitably provide workforce development and educational opportunities for the Violet and St. Bernard Parish communities that will relate to LIT’s future careers and sustainability outcomes. 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.

LIT is the largest public economic development project in the State of Louisiana. By 2050, it 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, as well as more than $1 billion in new state and local tax revenue, according to Port NOLA.

“We want to thank the EPA and our federal delegation for this funding and for their ongoing support of the Louisiana International Terminal,” said Port NOLA President & CEO Beth Branch. “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, Governor Jeff Landry and the Louisiana Legislature committed $230.5 million to Port NOLA infrastructure projects, including the LIT. The state commitment follows $300 million in 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, according to the Port. 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), have committed $800 million toward the project.

LIT is currently in the federal permitting process. Construction is expected to begin in 2025.