On the heels of Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order to help tackle supply chain issues, and as part of the ongoing efforts of the Biden-Harris Task Force on Supply Chain Disruptions, Governor Newsom and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced a strategic partnership to help facilitate innovative projects and financing opportunities for multi-billion infrastructure improvements in California.
Today’s agreement allows California to expedite work on a network of related projects – rather than using a piecemeal approach – that collectively will help grow the economy, protect the environment, facilitate the movement of imports and exports, and bring supply chain processes into the 21st century to create resilience throughout the critical trade corridors of California and the U.S., including around San Pedro Bay and the Inland Empire.
“California’s ports and infrastructure system is key to the country’s supply chain. Thanks to our collaboration with the Biden-Harris Administration, this innovative federal-state partnership will help us fast-track those projects that will make our ports and infrastructure even more efficient,” said Governor Newsom. “This partnership will help us jumpstart and support multiple infrastructure projects to improve our supply chain, making sure goods get to where they need to go faster, cheaper, and in a more environmentally-friendly manner.”
This partnership can help kick-start construction to deliver benefits to the transportation supply chain and U.S. consumers in the future. Projects that could receive support through this agreement include:
- Port-specific upgrades;
- Expanding capacity for freight rail;
- Developing inland port facilities for increased warehouse storage;
- Railyard and truck electrification;
- Highway upgrades to improve truck travel times;
- Grade-separated crossings to reduce the number of rail-street intersections and improve safety and efficiency;
- Land ports of entry to expand trade capacity and cross-border commerce;
- Other eligible projects of critical importance identified by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA).
Under the Emerging Projects Agreement, the Build America Bureau at USDOT will support CalSTA in developing California infrastructure projects designed to improve the capacity and resiliency of the goods movement chain and will assist project sponsors in exploring innovative financing opportunities for billions in infrastructure investment, in part through the USDOT credit assistance programs Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) and Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF).