Two ports in Northwest Washington are navigating an ever-changing landscape as federal funds meant to help improve operations have been frozen, unfrozen, then frozen again in the last week.
Tens of millions of dollars meant for creating new jobs and developing energy transition plans at The Port of Bellingham and the Port of Anacortes are frozen. And while both ports are working with Washington’s federal delegation to figure out what’s happening, projects are on standby.
The grants were awarded in October 2024 through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program. The Port of Bellingham received $1.5 million to develop a port-wide energy transition action plan, while the Port of Anacortes received $63.8 million to facilitate a public-private partnership between the port and local maritime industry.
The pause in funding is a result of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office. In the order, he directed federal agencies to immediately stop disbursing grants and loans under the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, as well as pausing grants for environmental programs through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
A federal judge barred Trump from pausing federal spending and extended a temporary restraining order on Monday, Feb. 10, stating that withholding the funds was “likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country,” according to National Public Radio. The order directs the Trump administration to restore funds that were appropriated through the two Biden-era laws.
In a House of Representatives subcommittee hearing on maritime infrastructure on Feb. 5, Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) called the grant freezes “a dumb move. It’s disastrous.”
Mike Hogan, the public affairs administrator for the Port of Bellingham, said in an email Wednesday Feb. 12, that the port had received notification on Feb. 4 that the funds were frozen. Three days later, the grant funding portal was back open and “available for drawdown.” Then on Tuesday, Feb. 11, the grant funding was paused again.
Hogan then sent a follow-up email nearly 30 minutes later saying the port’s $500,000 EPA grant for reducing diesel emissions through replacing engines on private-owned commercial marine vessels had been paused.
The Bellingham Shipping Terminal project, also financed in part through a $6.85 million federal grant, and the design work for the rail reconnection project, which netted $17.93 million in federal funds, have not been impacted by the funding freeze, Hogan said. The funds were distributed by the Department of Transportation.
Brett Greenwood, executive director at the Port of Anacortes, said over the phone his staff is checking the federal funding portal every few hours to see if the funds for the port’s electrification project and property development have been released.
“It’s impacting our community,” Greenwood said. “There were jobs attached to the grant. Some of our private partners here were going to be hiring upwards of 50 people to start implementing some of these grant awards that they have, and all of that is on hold now.”
Similar to the Port of Bellingham’s experience, Greenwood said Anacortes’ grants were paused, then unpaused and frozen again within a four-day period.
Without the funds, the Port of Anacortes is unable to start moving forward with their five private partners to build electric boats, replace diesel equipment with electric motors and purchase equipment. Greenwood is very aware of the impact of inflation driving the cost of redesigning if the funds remain frozen.
“We were going to move the needle growth-wise for Anacortes and now we’re on hold,” he said. “This is a national issue but it’s also a local issue for us.”
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
