The Port Authority has embarked on initiatives to accommodate larger vessels and tackle environmental, security, and workforce issues By Peter A. Buxbaum, AJOT As the project to widen the Panama Canal nears completion, the Port of New York and New Jersey is taking action to make sure that the larger cargo ships transiting the are able to access the port. The key issue which directly impacts the port’s ability to handle larger ships involves the height of the Bayonne Bridge, which connects New Jersey and Staten Island, New York, over the Kill Van Kull channel, which connects New York Bay with Newark Bay. The bridge has a central clearance of between 151 feet and 156 feet, depending on the tides, not enough to accommodate larger container ships. After a review of alternatives, the Port Authority announced last year that the most cost-effective solution to the Bayonne Bridge clearance issue will be to raise raising the bridge’s roadbed to 215 feet to increase the existing 151-foot navigational clearance restriction. Other choices considered included tearing down the existing bridge and building a new one and building a tunnel to replace the bridge. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has committed $1 billion to the $1.3 billion project. More recently, The Port Authority submitted a request to federal officials that the Bayonne Bridge project be considered for expedited review. Earlier this year, President Barrack Obama issues an executive order allowing expedited review of projects of regional or national significance “We were the first to file under the expedited review procedures,” said Pat Foye, the Port Authority’s executive director. “We are now waiting for the federal government to come back with a determination. We think it’s a no brainer as far as designating Bayonne as a project of regional and national significance. Tens of thousands of jobs are dependent on the project and it is critical for the port to remain competitive with the expansion of the Panama Canal.” The Environmental Impact Statement for the project has already been prepared and filed and is currently undergoing review under federal Environmental Policy Act procedures. The U.S. Coast Guard is the designated lead federal agency. Construction on the project is scheduled begin in early 2013, depending federal and local environmental reviews. Construction could be completed in 2016. “I have charged the team to take time off the project,” said Foye. “A positive finding from the government will enable us to shorten it even further. We hope to hear a positive determination soon.” Foye is optimistic about the project’s chances to win an expedited review. “We are not building a new bridge but simply raising the roadway and rehabilitating an existing structure,” he said. “The environmental impact of the bridge is the same as before.” Allowing the port to accommodate larger ships will actually have a positive environmental impact, Foye argued. “The larger container ships will burn less fuel per container and will have the latest ballast water and invasive species technologies,” he explained. “Whatever minor negative environmental impact the project may have will be offset by the positive impacts by many orders of magnitude. It is rare to find project that is so clear cut. Speed is essential, and I am committed to making the Port Authority faster and more competitive.” Environmental issues are also the focus of a number of Port Authority programs that seek to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of trucks servicing the port, of vessels calling on the port, and of equipment utilized by terminal operators. At the beginning of last year, pre-1994 trucks were banned from the port. A second truck ban will go into effect in 2017. At that point, all trucks calling on port will be required to meet 2007 Environmental Protection Agency standards for diesel engines. The truck replacement program combines Port Authority funds with a contribution from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide gra