President Donald Trump is expected to sign on Tuesday a massive relief and federal spending package passed by Congress late Monday that authorizes major port expansion projects and opens $1 billion in funds for harbor maintenance dredging.
The port funding legislation, the biennial Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), was part of a $1.4 trillion fiscal year 2021 appropriations omnibus bill that also contains $900 billion in emergency COVID-19 relief and program funding for the U.S. Department of Transportation and other federal agencies.
WRDA formally authorized the expansion of the Houston Ship Channel, known as Project 11, an $885 billion project that will allow for two-way traffic of next-generation-size containerships.
“The authorization to widen and deepen the Houston Ship Channel is big for our region, the state of Texas and our nation,” commented Port of Houston Executive Director Roger Guenther. The project is expected to improve regional air quality by increasing the efficiency of vessel movements and reducing congestion.
Along with the port’s eight public terminals, there are more than 200 private facilities along the channel, “and many of these stakeholders have actively participated in driving the expansion project forward,” Guenther said…
