House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves and Ranking Member Rick Larsen recently released a draft Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill titled the "BUILD America 250 Act," which the American Association of Port Authorities has reviewed. The draft bill includes several provisions favorable to ports, such as elimination of a 30% cap on multimodal projects for the INFRA grant program, permanent reauthorization of the Freight Logistics Optimization Works Program, and several permitting reforms intended to improve project delivery. However, AAPA noted the draft does not include advanced appropriations for the Port Infrastructure Development Program, for which President Trump's FY27 budget requested $500 million. The current surface transportation authorization expires September 30, and AAPA is encouraging the Senate to include advanced appropriations for PIDP and other key grant programs as the legislation moves forward.

 

Read the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s press release here, a section-by-section here, and the full legislative text here.

Georgia Ports Authority's Gainesville Inland Port has been operational since May 4, 2026, offering direct daily rail service between Northeast Georgia's manufacturing hub and the Port of Savannah in partnership with Norfolk Southern. The facility serves a local market of 330 manufacturers and is expected to shift 26,000 containers to rail in its first year, reducing truck traffic on Georgia highways and cutting emissions. At full build-out, the $134 million facility will have an annual capacity of 200,000 containers. GPA also funded $4.8 million in Hall County road projects to reduce the railyard's traffic impact on surrounding Gainesville communities.

The Port Authority of Guam has launched a port-wide emissions inventory effort as part of its federally funded Clean Ports Program, aimed at supporting the development of Guam's long-term Zero-Emission and Zero-Waste strategy. The initiative, conducted with support from consultant Jacobs and members of the Port Users Group, focuses on compiling greenhouse gas and climate air pollutant data from vessels, cargo handling equipment, fleet vehicles, harbor craft, drayage trucks, and other fuel-powered equipment operating at the port. The effort is part of a $2.4 million Clean Ports Program award the port received through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate and Air Quality Planning Competition, which was officially launched in January 2025. The emissions inventory is intended to establish a baseline of emissions activity to support future sustainability, resiliency, and modernization planning initiatives at Guam's only commercial seaport.

Port Freeport and its port community handled 39.3 million tons of total foreign waterborne cargo in Calendar Year 2025, an 8.7 percent increase from Calendar Year 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Statistics. The port improved its national ranking to 13th in total foreign waterborne tonnage, up from 14th the previous year, and advanced from 5th to 4th among Texas ports by the same measure. Port Freeport also moved up from 10th to 9th in the nation for foreign waterborne export tonnage. The port's operations contribute more than $157.3 billion in annual economic activity nationwide, according to a 2022 Economic Impact Study by Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

Port Houston will host the 5th annual Houston International Maritime Conference (HIMC26) November 2–5, 2026 at the Hilton Americas Houston in Downtown Houston, with registration now open. The conference theme is "Lessons from the Past. Strategies for the Future." and will feature sessions on international trade, tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty, shifting supply chain strategies, and technologies redefining cargo movement. More information and tickets are available at www.porthouston.com/himc.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance and Husky Terminal welcomed the inaugural vessel call under a revised FP2 service rotation on May 9, with Tacoma now serving as the first port of call instead of Vancouver. Cargo discharged from the ONE Owl was transferred to rail at the NWSA-operated North Intermodal Yard, with the first train loaded within hours of vessel arrival and all import rail cargo loaded within 48 hours of discharge. The timeline was fast enough to put imports on track to reach Chicago before the vessel arrived at its second port of call in Vancouver. The shift positions the NWSA gateway as an earlier U.S. entry point for transpacific cargo, increasing the volume of discretionary cargo handled at Husky Terminal.