Following on the heels of the U.S. DOT’s $275,000 grant to the Blue Coast Intermodal project, Congressman Mike Thompson visited the Eureka waterfront earlier this month to laud the project and what it represents for Humboldt County and the West Coast.

The Blue Coast Intermodal Project (also known as the West Coast Hub Feeder Project) has been awarded $275,000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of a federal initiative designed to move cargo along rivers and coasts rather than highways. This is the first time ever that a Marine Highway program west of the Gulf Coast has received federal funding.

“This is a decisive moment for transportation on the West Coast,” said HML founder Stephen Pepper. “The environmental and economic repercussions of this project extend through multiple states. This funding is a strong message to both the private and public sectors that Washington D.C. is serious about finding Marine Highway solutions.”

From contracostatimes.com: A local entrepreneur’s efforts to establish a marine shipping service along the West Coast and a four-port initiative to build infrastructure to support it have earned recognition — and the prospect of funding — from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Humboldt Maritime Logistics President Stephen Pepper said his company is currently seeking $1.5 million for a West Coast market analysis and a study of what kind of equipment will best suit the service’s needs. The Transportation Department’s determination means the company and the Harbor District are now in a much better position to receive federal funding.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has designated a joint project between Humboldt Maritime Logistics and the Humboldt Bay Recreation and Conservation District as being eligible for funding as part of a federal initiative designed move cargo along rivers and coasts rather than highways.
The joint project is one of 14 groups and agencies in the nation (and one of only two on the West Coast) to achieve this status.

From contracostatimes.com: A Harbor District committee charged with charting an economic course has made a series of recommendations aimed at boosting shipping, industrial, aquaculture and tourism on Humboldt Bay.

Expected to be presented to the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District in May, the Economic Development Committee’s final report holds that there is not enough business to justify building a public marine terminal at the district’s Redwood Dock. Instead, the report concludes that the district should look at ways to encourage business on industrial land around the bay by helping streamline permitting and adjusting zoning.

Coming up in April is one of the biggest events on our calendar: the 2010 North American Marine Highways and Logistics Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Not only will U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and other key legislative and industry leaders be speaking, HML CEO Stephen Pepper will be part of a panel on sustainable shipping.


“This conference is filled with some fantastic sessions about the future of America’s transportation system,” Pepper says. “I feel lucky that I’ve been asked to speak about one of the biggest passions in my life: how the Marine Highway can benefit shippers, customers and the environment.” [...]

It’s quite a list: Port Manatee. The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority. The New Haven Port Authority. The Port of Providence. Quonset Business Park. The Port of New Bedford. And it goes on and on.

Nearly 100 ports across the United States applied for federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants this summer. In all they asked for $3.38 billion — which is more than twice the amount of money in the entire funding program. [Read the full story to download an applicant analysis.] That type of competition can’t be good for the emerging Marine Highway program, right?

Not so fast, says Stephen Pepper, president of Humboldt Maritime Logistics. “All of these separate projects are in different regions, but they provide the mechanism for communities to define their own Marine Highway goals,” he says. [...]

We’ve mentioned this short sea shipping project between Stockton and Oakland before. But it’s great news to hear that a major public entity — the Bay Area Air Quality Management District — is laying down some big money to help move things forward.
“While the air district’s funding is an important step, [Richard Aschieris, Port of Stockton director] said additional funds are needed – perhaps in “the low twenty-million-dollar range” – for the necessary infrastructure. Federal economic stimulus grants are being sought.
The Port of Stockton has historically handled bulk cargo, such as grain, minerals, fertilizer and steel, but not goods packed into steel shipping containers [...]

Earlier this year Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) called on the nation’s heavy transportation users to help fund the Highway Trust Fund. It may sound logical, says Joseph Keefe, editor in chief of The Maritime Executive argues, but Boxer is missing the big picture if she doesn’t include short sea shipping as part of the solution.

“This says a lot regarding California’s access to federal short sea shipping funding,” says HML founder Stephen Pepper. “I hear so often that the East Coast has all the political clout and will reap the largest funding benefits, but Boxer is a key individual in this process. Politicians on the West Coast need to realize the roll they can also play in bringing economic and environmental solutions to their communities.”

And not just ports. In a story by the Journal of Commerce, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said freight transporation projects will also be in line to receive a “significant” amount of the stimulus money.
“We will have some for port enhancements. We’re receiving some significant proposals for intermodal projects, and what’s more intermodal than a port,” LaHood said to the House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation. He said the enhancements would include infrastructure to connect ports with the national transportation system.
DOT is receiving proposals for spending $1.5 billion in discretionary money for transportation infrastructure [...]