Congressman Robert Garcia Announces Over $100 Million for Los Angeles-Long Beach Harbors

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42) announced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allocated an additional $97 million to bring the total annual federal funding to $112,098,840 for the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors to fund expanded operations and maintenance work as part of the fiscal year 2024 Army Corps Work Plan. The Work Plan allocates the additional funds Congress appropriated above the President’s budget. 
 
“This announcement marks a significant milestone in the decades-long battle for equitable funding allocation for the benefit of our communities and national economy. As the former Mayor of Long Beach, I know firsthand how critical it is to invest in port infrastructure to maintain competitiveness, and that’s why we’ve worked to ensure that donor ports receive their fair share of funding for essential repair and replacement projects,” said Congressman Garcia. “This funding not only enhances the sustainability and efficiency of our local harbors, but also solidifies their role in international trade.”
 
“We have long pushed for a fair share of Harbor Maintenance Tax funding to ports like ours, which traditionally have contributed more to the fund than they received,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “We thank Congressman Robert Garcia and our other congressional leaders for securing the funds for critical repair, retrofit and replacement projects that will strengthen our ability to move cargo safely and sustainably, and our partners at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for including funds in their 2024 workplan.”
 
For the first time, additional funding is being used for specific work activities including dredging and Donor and Energy Transfer Port expanded uses, such as harbor dredging, environmental cleanup, seismic retrofits, and berth maintenance. This provision was championed in the 2020 Water Resources Development Act by Reps. Grace Napolitano and former Rep. Alan Lowenthal.
 
Congressman Garcia has repeatedly fought to secure these funds within the Army Corps of Engineers budget, most recently writing a letter to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget requesting more funds. The funding helps to redress historic imbalances in Harbor Maintenance Trust Funding allocation, where “donor ports” – including the Port of Long Beach – collect significantly more harbor maintenance tax revenue than is spent by the Corps on the port, and will help make sure that Long Beach receives its fair share of federal funding.  
 
Congressman Garcia has been committed to improving port infrastructure both during his time in Congress and as former Mayor of Long Beach. In June of last year, Congressman Garcia joined Senator Alex Padilla to introduce the Clean Shipping Act of 2023, which sets a path to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from all ocean shipping companies that do business with the United States. Earlier this month, he joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to introduce a Green New Deal Bill that will electrify and modernize the nation’s transportation infrastructure. Garcia is the co-chair of the Congressional PORTS Caucus. As Mayor, Congressman Garcia worked with the Port of Long Beach to navigate the historic surge in volume in freight in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.  
 

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