Building Our Future: Infrastructure Update

Written By Info at CBNO

CBNO is proud to work with dozens of partners throughout the region to help people understand, navigate, and influence the decisions that impact us all. This comprehensive update comes from our partners at Greater New Orleans Inc.’s monthly Infrastructure updates. See below for New Orleans’ recent wins, project progress, and upcoming grant opportunities for the City, Nonprofits, and even businesses. Want to be added to the newsletter? Contact Policy Director Peter Waggonner at pwaggonner@gnoinc.org.

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

GNO Inc updates their opportunity tracker every month. Here’s the latest list of Federal opportunities that could benefit New Orleans and the region.

Project & Award Updates

  • Governor Edwards and Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Stephen Gardner met at the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal to sign a service development agreement that will advance the return of New Orleans to Baton Rouge Intercity Passenger Rail Service.  Amtrak will begin preparatory work for service to launch in 2027, according to the agreement.  Gov. Edwards said, “An Amtrak line connecting Louisiana’s capital to the largest metropolitan area in the state will have immense economic benefits for both cities and the parishes in between.”  The last passenger train between Baton Rouge and New Orleans ran in 1969, when a railroad company was given permission to discontinue service. 

  • In December 2021, during an event hosted by GNO, Inc., Canadian Pacific (CP) committed to opening track capacity for New Orleans to Baton Rouge passenger service.  This March, the Surface Transportation Board approved Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger agreement, under the condition that CP “honor CP’s commitments made under the settlement agreement with Amtrak, including CP’s agreement to support certain planned expansions of Amtrak passenger service,” namely New Orleans to Baton Rouge.  

  • In August, the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget (JLCB) approved a request to dedicate $20.5M from the State’s HUD Road Home settlement savings to the passenger rail project, based on the value to Southeast Louisiana residents in evacuation scenarios.

  • In September, the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program awarded Amtrak $178M for final design, development, and construction necessary to reconnect New Orleans to Mobile Passenger Rail Service, which has been out of commission since Hurricane Katrina.   Amtrak is already training crews to operate this service, which may start in Q1 2024, in time for Mardi Gras.

 

  • The Southern Rail Commissioner (SRC) – a Congressionally-authorized interstate rail compact championing the expansion of passenger rail service across Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana – will be hosting their quarterly meeting on December 1, 2023 in New Orleans.  SRC will provide further updates on New Orleans-Mobile and New Orleans-Baton Rouge service restoration.  The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Centric Hotel (800 Iberville Street) and may be accessed in person or by Zoom; email info@southernrailcommission.org to request a link.

 

  • DOE has announced $3.5B in awards from the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program, IIJA’s primary source for electrical infrastructure funding.  GNO, Inc. – in our regional infrastructure priorities and discussions with our delegation – has uplifted the importance of grid hardening as essential to business continuity.  GRIP awards include two major victories for the GNO region.   

    • Entergy New Orleans (ENO) won $54.8M for Line Hardening and Battery Microgrid in New Orleans East.  ENO will hurricane-proof the New Orleans East transmission line, which failed during Hurricane Ida, and 97 associated structures, as well as nearly 400 distribution structures.  Community benefits are at the center of the project, as ENO will also deploy a residential battery backup program through New Orleans East.  Furthermore, over 5 years, ENO will train 1,000 students for clean energy careers through the New Orleans Career Center, and ENO will work with The First 72+ and Delgado Community College to support formerly incarcerated individuals in completing lineworker training programs.

    • The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) won $249.3M for Hubs for Energy Resilient Operations (HERO).  HERO will establish a network of Community Resilience Hubs powered by distributed energy resources microgrids.  The HERO collaborative includes GNO partners like the City of New Orleans, CLECO Power, Entergy Louisiana, Entergy New Orleans, and Xavier University.

 

  • Entergy New Orleans launched Operation Gridiron, a $1B program to improve grid resilience in New Orleans and proactively address climate threats of increasing severity.  Operation Gridiron builds on regulatory processes – in October 2021, the City Council opened docket UD-21-03, directing interested parties to submit a system resiliency and storm hardening plan, and in July 2022, ENO submitted their “Resilience and Storm Hardening Filing.” This filing presents a comprehensive set of projects to improve the resiliency of ENO’s electric system and significantly reduce restoration costs and customer minutes interrupted following a major weather event.  In April, ENO asked the City Council to approve phase one of the plan.

    • If approved, Operation Gridiron would cut outage times by more than half, upgrade thousands of poles to withstand 150 mph winds, and harden 650 miles (1046km) of power lines.  Operation Gridiron signage on poles in New Orleans marks where work will be done; maps of planned improvements by neighborhood and council district are available online.

    • If approved, ENO customers’ bills will increase for five years through a “Resiliency Rider.”  The anticipated monthly impact on a typical residential customer would be approximately 20 cents in 2024, growing to approximately $12 in 2028.  Federal grant awards pursued by ENO may lessen costs to customers. 

 

  • Entergy New Orleans, in partnership with the City of New Orleans, has completed the Electric Vehicle Charging Pilot Program, after installing 30 charging stations at 25 locations in neighborhoods across the city.  This is Louisiana’s first utility-owned public electric vehicle charging program; charging stations in the program are open to the public and free to use.  The stations are strategically posited, based feedback from residents, at NORD facilities, libraries, and public parks.  To find the nearest charger, use the ChargePoint app, or find consolidated information on the City’s EV webpage.

 

  • EPA is preparing to launch the Clean Ports Program, with a NOFO expected to be released in Q1 2024.  The EPA Ports Initiative recently hosted a webinar, providing a “first look” at the program and outlining anticipated program design.  $3B of grants will be distributed in totalne; 10% for climate and air quality planning and 90% for zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure.  Port authorities, governments with jurisdiction over port authorities, and air pollution control agencies will be eligible recipients.  Private entities that own, operate, or use facilities, cargo-handling equipment, transportation equipment, or related technology at a port will also be able to receive funding, if applying with another eligible recipient.

 

  • EPA has awarded a $796,000 Pollution Prevention (P2) grant to Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center and GNO partner LifeCity.  The grant will allow partners to provide technical assistance to manufacturing clusters and industrial facilities between New Orleans East and East Baton Rouge.  Technical assistance will include on-site water quality assessments and workshops that offer solutions to reduce hazardous substances release by leveraging EPA’s Safer Choice program which advises on safer chemical substitutions.  Additionally, the project includes a place-based approach to identify, track, and recognize the most impactful solutions that curb hazardous discharge to bodies of water and air.

 

  • EPA has announced the availability of $4.3B for Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Program (CPRG) Implementation Grants, part two of the CPRG program.  Implementation grants will allow eligible applicants – state agencies, municipal agencies, and metropolitan planning organizations, and tribes – to implement greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction programs, policies, projects, and measures.  GHG reduction measures are broad, and may fall into the various sectors, including transportation, electric power, buildings, industrial, waste, water, and sustainable material management.  These measures must be identified in a Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) developed under a CPRG planning grant.  EPA anticipates awarding approximately 30 to 115 implementation grants ranging between $2 million and $500 million under this competition.

    • Lead organizations for CPRG planning grants must submit their PCAPs to EPA by the deadline of March 1, 2024.  In July, the Louisiana Division of Administration was awarded a planning grant to develop a PCAP.  Since, the Climate Initiatives Task Force has had multiple meetings to review the draft PCAP.  In August, the Regional Planning Commission (RPC) was awarded a planning grant for the New Orleans-Metairie Metro Area.

 

  • EPA, at the Sanchez Multi-Service Center with Region 6 Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance and Congressman Troy Carter, formally announced that City of New Orleans has received $3.98M for recycling infrastructure through the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) program.  Currently, less than 5% of recyclable material in the city is properly diverted, but the City’s 2030 Climate Action Plan puts forward the goal of 25% recycling rate.  With funding, the City will work towards this goal by educating residents on recyclable materials and expanding its current residential curbside recycling program to all eligible households.  Funding will allow for the provision of new carts to 73,000 households and replacement of 10,000 legacy recycling carts.

 

  • The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget (JLCB) approved a CEA for the New Orleans BioDistrict Tax Increment Financing (TIF).  This CEA pledges 45% of state sales tax collected (above a baseline, until 2040, and not to exceed $25M) to the BioDistrict.  In October 2022, the City Council approved a CEA to pledge incremental local sales and use taxes (up to $70M through 2039) to the BioDstrict.  This funding can be used for “public improvements” within the BioDistrict, like the construction, expansion, improvement, and maintenance of roads, bridges, drainage, and water infrastructure.  The BioDistrict – concentrating health science research, commercialization, companies, and services – encompasses certain areas from Loyola to Carrollton Aves. and Iberville St. to Earhart Blvd.

 

  • The Claiborne Cultural Innovation District (CID) is now under construction with Phase I: Backatown Plaza, spanning between Orleans Avenue and St. Louis Street beneath the I-10 elevated expressway.  Construction in this phase, supporting an open-air marketplace, incudes green infrastructure installation, enhanced public safety lighting, pavement resurfacing, ADA accessibility ramps, utility connections, repainting, and pressure-washing.  Backatown Plaza is the first part of a four-phase CID Master Plan to transform Claiborne Ave. from Cleveland St. to St. Bernard Ave.

    • In March, DOT selected DOTD’s Claiborne Corridor application for a $500,000 planning grant through the Reconnecting Communities Program.  DOTD is developing a scope of work for the project now; planning and engagement work has yet to begin.

 

 

  • GNO, Inc., GNOF, and the ByWater Institute will wrap up Urban Water @ 10 programming this Wednesday, November 15, with the Urban Water @ 10 Finale.  While celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the 2013 Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, the finale event will mark the release of ten priorities, determined through public and private sector insights provided at our Urban Water @ 10 Roundtables and the Urban Water @ 10 Summit.  These high-level priorities – like “investing in water and environmental literacy programs” – and actionable priority-specific opportunities will guide implementation of the Urban Water Plan in the next decade.  Please join us at the finale, at the Tulane River and Coastal Center, by RSVPing or emailing me directly. 

    • A web-based Urban Water @ 10 report showcasing these priorities, as well as the original Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan reports, will be available for review on www.gnowater.org on November 15. 

 

  • FEMA is making $1.8B available through the FY23 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA)  programs, two capstone programs investing in communities’ resilience to climate change and extreme weather events.  The BRIC annual grant program is making $1B available for projects that protect people and infrastructure from natural hazards and the effects of climate change.  The FMA program is making $800M available for projects that mitigate flood risks facing homes and communities across the nation.  Applications are open until February 29, 2024.

    • FY22 BRIC and FMA awards, recently announced in August, resulted in GNO successes.  Jefferson Parish won $19M in partnership with Entergy for grid hardening through BRIC and over 350 home elevations across the region were funded through FMA. 

 

 

  • Friends of Lafitte Greenway is updating a part of the Lafitte Greenway Master Plan, originally published in 2013, from North Broad St. to Bayou St. John.  After hearing from nearly 400 community members in the first round of engagement this summer, the design team, led by Dana Brown & Associates, has developed alternative design scenarios for the multi-block segment.  The three alternatives respectively highlight “changes in elevation with landforms,” “immersed in nature and play,” and “urban woods.”  Scenarios include amphitheaters, bridges, sunken plazas, bioswales, wetlands, and boardwalks. 

 

  • New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity is hosting a “Behind the Build” event, previewing work with the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s (NRMCA) Build with Strength Coalition.  The event will occur on Thursday, November 16 at 2900 Elysian Fields Ave.  Habitat will be introducing two affordable, low carbon doubles being built with insulated concrete forms (ICFs).  ICF is a sustainable, noncombustible building system that offers improved energy performance and durability.  Habitat has collaborated with Auburn University’s Rural Studio to design the two doubles, which will house AmeriCorps volunteers once completed.

 

  • The State of Louisiana – through their “Building the Bayou State” portal, monthly webinar, and weekly email blast – continues to share important infrastructure news and information.  Their “Get Involved” webpage provides a list of “how you or your household can take advantage of transformative infrastructure opportunities” through tax credits, job opportunities, and assistance programs.

    • Register to receive the State’s infrastructure newsletter by emailing infrastructure@la.gov.  

    • Request letters of support from the State by emailing infrastructure@la.gov with a drafted letter and a summary of your proposed project.

Info at CBNO
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