Joint Transportation Committee approves two Q3 port-priority applications

The Joint Transportation Committee approved two port-priority applications at its Dec. 12 hearing, expanding the 2024 priority list with projects from Abbeville and Columbia parishes.

Julia Fisher Cormier, commissioner of the Office of Multimodal inside the Department of Transportation and Development, told the committee the Port Priority program is funded from the Louisiana Transportation Trust Fund ‘‘to about the tune of almost $40,000,000 annually for port priority funding’’ and is administered on a quarterly application cycle. Cormier said the program caps awards at $15,000,000 per project overall and $5,000,000 in annual allocations per project, and that only port authorities are eligible to apply.

Cormier presented two Q3 2024 applications recommended for inclusion. The Abbeville Harbor and Terminal District requested $631,000 for building acquisition and improvements; the application lists four new jobs and retention of seven existing positions. The Columbia Port Commission submitted a $10,600,000 request for a largely solar-based ‘‘power to the ports’’ energy diversification project the presentation said would create 23 jobs.

Cormier said Louisiana Economic Development reviewed both applications and issued letters of support that are included in the committee packets. She described how the program prioritizes awards by application year and by a scoring rubric that involves DOTD staff and the state economist, with the committee reviewing the recommended order.

Committee members asked how the recommended awards map to fiscal years and about an existing backlog. Cormier said the roughly $33,000,000 of 2024 projects under consideration would apply to FY25–26 allocations, and that the program carries a backlog of about $177,000,000; she noted projects frequently receive partial annual reimbursements under the $5 million-per-year rule.

Chair read public-support cards from representatives of several ports. Senator Carter moved to accept the port-priority applications for the quarter; the chair asked for objections and, seeing none, the committee approved the recommendations.

The committee did not take separate roll-call tallies on the record for this motion. The approvals will be appended to the existing priority list in the order established by application year and score, per DOTD staff. The Office of Multimodal said it will provide the LED letters and project packets to committee members on request.

What happens next: The newly approved applications will be appended to the statewide priority list and considered for reimbursement in accordance with the program's annual allocation and the $5 million-per-year per-project limit.