Environmental Initiatives at the Port of New York and New Jersey

The Port of New York and New Jersey has extensive environmental programs, ranging from proposed strategies to reduce air emissions from shipping to an Environmental Management System (EMS) to reduce impact from facilities' operations.

Port Authority
Initiatives
Tenant
Initiatives
Port Regional
Initiatives
Comprehensive Port
Improvement Plan

Port Authority Initiatives

Clean Air Strategy for the Port of New York and New Jersey

The Port Authority has worked with its partners to develop a Clean Air Strategy for the Port of NY and NJ. The strategy lays out practical actions that the Port and industry stakeholders can take to reduce diesel and greenhouse (GHG) emissions in advance of potential regulations.

These actions will significantly reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) pollution, as well as greenhouse gases (GHG). Examples of these actions include replacement of the oldest and most polluting trucks serving the port, installation of shore power capability at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, retrofit of two switcher locomotives serving the Port's on-dock rail operations with GenSet systems, and modernization of cargo handling equipment used by terminal operators leasing space from the Port Authority.

A Clean Air Strategy

Clean Air Strategy Public Comment Summary

Presentation from Public Information Session

Environmental Stewardship

The Port Authority, Port Commerce Department (PCD) holds as a basic value a commitment to the communities in which it operates and to the society at large. This commitment includes safeguarding the land, water, air, natural resources, flora, fauna, people and their interrelation. To that end, PCD has adopted environmental stewardship as one of its key business objectives to protect the environment while providing economic benefits to the region.

Port Commerce Department Environmental Policy

Air Emissions Inventories and Related Studies

The Port Authority of NY & NJ, Port Commerce Department, as a landlord port, has completed air emission inventories of the various sources of port related emissions: ocean going vessels and harbor craft; trucks; cargo handling equipment; and rail locomotives.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Port Commerce Department, 2008 Multi-Facility Emissions Inventory of Cargo Handling Equipment, Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles, Railroad Locomotives and Commercial Marine Vessels

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Port Commerce Department, 2006 Baseline Multi-Facility Emissions Inventory

The Port of New York and New Jersey Cargo Handling Equipment Emissions Inventory Update

Ocean-Going Vessel Dwelling Emissions

Analysis of Vessel Dwelling Emissions and Offset Reduction Measures

The Port of New York and New Jersey Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicle Emissions Inventory

Drayage Truck Characterization Survey at the Port Authority and the Global Marine Terminals

Tenant Initiatives

aerial photo of container port

The Green Practices Task Force

Our Green Practices Task Force, which is comprised of about 20 on-port businesses (including East Coast Warehouse and Toyota Logistics Services) and Port Authority staff in New York and New Jersey, is identifying green initiatives that address air and water quality, waste minimization, and energy conservation. Tenants have voluntarily:

Expanded recycling efforts.
Increased their use of floor drain and catch basin inserts to trap contaminants from runoff and rainwater
Conserved fuel
And, improved air quality by modernizing cargo handling equipment.

Our Cargo Handling Equipment emissions inventory, which compared the 2002 fleet with the modernized 2004 fleet and was completed through a voluntary initiative between the Port Authority and several marine terminals, earned a national Environmental Improvement Award from the American Association of Port Authorities.

Green Ports Program

Our Green Ports Program aims to conserve and enhance the Port of New York and New Jersey's natural resources while promoting sound business practices.

Components of the program include:

Electrifying port cranes to reduce diesel-exhaust emissions, either by purchasing and replacing diesel-powered cranes or by making infrastructure improvements that enable tenants to install new electrical cranes.
Piloting an "idle reduction" project at Howland Hook Marine Terminal to reduce emissions from idling locomotives in cold weather. A Kim Hotstart System enables the engine to be plugged into a power grid until it is ready for start-up without worry of temperature-related engine damage, eliminating the need to keep the engine idling.

Port Regional Initiatives

Harbor Restoration and Shoreline Stabilization

The Port Authority participates with federal, state, and local agencies, businesses, and environmental groups in a number of initiatives to maintain a healthy harbor and shoreline of the Port of New York and New Jersey. These include:

A Harbor Roundtable, whose goal is to develop an environmental agenda for the harbor, including restoration priorities and objectives to become a world class estuary and identification of resources to achieve them;
The Hudson Raritan Estuary Environmental Restoration Study to develop a Comprehensive Restoration Plan that identifies restoration opportunities in the estuary, including the Gowanus Bay and Canal, the Lower Passaic River, and various other wetlands and habitat sites;
The Hudson Raritan Estuary Resources Program, which purchases property for public use and natural resource protection, including the 10-acre Blissenbach Marina on Staten Island and sites in the Hackensack Meadowlands;
The Contaminant Assessment Reduction Program to evaluate all sources of contaminants in water, sediment, and biota within the Hudson Raritan Estuary.

A SmartWay Transport Partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and SmartWay Plus loan to purchase technology that will improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions in trucks used at the port.

Hybrid Technology for Yard Hostlers

The New York Container Terminal (NYCT) at Howland Hook and APM Terminal in Elizabeth have purchased yard hostlers -- trucks used to move containers around a terminal -- with customized hybrid technology to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy. Yard hostlers make frequent starts and stops and have a high percentage of idling time so they are ideal vehicles with which to test the viability of using hybrid technology in cargo handling equipment. We have partnered with the Port of Rotterdam – Europe's busiest port – on this pilot project, working through the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) International Sustainability Ports and Carriers Partnership (ISPCP).

Brownfield Redevelopment

The Port Authority has been involved in a number of projects to redevelop brownfields -- abandoned, underused, and potentially contaminated industrial and commercial facilities and land. Our brownfields projects include:

Partnering with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to develop the Portfields Initiative, a public-private program that provides opportunities for private developers, communities, and others to transform at least six brownfield sites into productive warehousing and distribution centers.
Remediating the contaminated Procter and Gamble site located near the Howland Hook Marine Terminal in Staten Island and developing it into a productive maritime facility.
Redeveloping property on the North Shore of Staten Island that will be used for recreational purposes.

Reducing Pollutants

The Staten Island Ferry fleet includes eight diesel-powered vessels. From 2003 to 2006, the Port Authority completed a demonstration project to retrofit the Alice Austin, a Ferry vessel, with a selective catalytic reduction emission control technology and a diesel oxidation catalyst. This technology significantly reduced the Alice Austin's nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 19 tons per year – about an 80 percent reduction. Additional ferry vessels are now being retrofitted with new engine technology.

Bringing Precious Resources Back To Life

Through partnerships with the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers and other agencies, we are preserving local wetlands, including Elders Point Island in Jamaica Bay, N.Y., and Woodbridge Creek in Woodbridge, N.J. The Woodbridge Creek Ecosystem Restoration restored approximately 23 acres of tidal wetlands and 27 additional acres. In Woodbridge, the conveyor brought in dredged material to create a hill that now acts as a sound barrier against the New Jersey Turnpike.

At Jamaica Bay, a hopper and conveyor belt was used to move the island's elevation above mean level.

These projects included installation of coir logs and the removal of invasive phagmites species, lowering the elevation of the tidal wetlands, and creation of additional creeks that allow for the re-colonization of many wetland species.

Comprehensive Port Improvement Plan

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has partnered with the States of New York and New Jersey, the City of New York, the US Environmental Protection Agency, US Army Corps of Engineers, and Federal Highways Administration, in the first ever multi-agency effort to create a long-term port development plan that is both economically efficient and environmentally sustainable. This effort, referred to as the Comprehensive Port Improvement Plan (CPIP), identifies specific water and landside infrastructure development scenarios and recommends associated transportation enhancements that are required to accommodate growing cargo demand out to the year 2060. CPIP is funded by the States of New York and New Jersey, using the bistate dredging fund, the Port Authority and the City of New York. The CPIP Plan and the accompanying CPIP Environmental Assessment will provide a framework for the consideration and evaluation of future regional port improvement projects.

The following CPIP applications, along with the CPIP Environmental Assessment can be downloaded:

Addendum to the CPIP

Volume One Appendix A - Figures

Volume One Appendix A - Figures, part 2

Volume One Appendix A - Figures, part 3

Volume One Appendix A - Figures, part 4

Volume One Appendix A - Figures, part 5

Volume One Appendix B - Regionally significant highway facilities

Volume One Appendix C - Rail terminal and intermodal facilities

Volume One Appendix D - Additional shared assets area rail yards

Volume One Appendix E - Infrastructure improvements accounted for in rail capacity analysis

Volume One Appendix F - Rail utilization, part 1