U.S. ports get graded on protecting public health

Advocates call on ports to use billions in already disbursed federal funding to update infrastructure that will improve air quality and deliver economic prosperity
Date: October 2, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO — Around 31 million people in the U.S. live near ports, breathing toxic diesel pollution from ships, trucks, and cargo equipment every day. This pollution increases the risk of asthma, stroke, heart disease, and cancer, and disproportionately harms residents living near ports. Today, a coalition of national and community-based organizations launched the Clean Ports Report Card Project — a first-of-its-kind accountability tool, grading major U.S. ports on their progress to cut emissions, increase transparency, and collaborate with communities.

“Ports have fueled economic growth, but our communities are paying the price with their health,” said Terrance L. Bankston, senior ports and freight campaigner at Friends of the Earth. “Through the Clean Ports Report Card campaign, we’re empowering frontline groups across the country and pushing port leaders to adopt zero-emission solutions so families living near these facilities can finally breathe clean, healthy air.”

Explore the Clean Ports Report Card

A critical moment for action

In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency received $3 billion in federal funding to transition U.S. ports to zero-emission equipment, infrastructure, and air quality planning, also known as the EPA Clean Ports Program. 

Federal lawmakers have also introduced key legislation — the Clean Shipping Act of 2025 and the International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act of 2025 — to reduce ship emissions and create funding for zero-emission technologies.

Port facilities, states, and regions with ports should also act on their own to require cleaner shipping and trucking operations to protect vulnerable communities from pollution. Ports need to act as “good neighbors” and collaborate with communities most impacted by their operations to help clean up their ports. The report cards provide a roadmap for constructive stakeholder collaborations with transparency around operations and the implementation of the EPA’s Clean Ports Program Funding.

The Report Card reveals that many ports can make significant progress with easy-to-implement actions such as consistent air monitoring, comprehensive emissions inventories, measurable clean air plans, and authentic community engagement. Without urgent federal, state, and port actions, we risk squandering this once-in-a-generation funding opportunity to reduce deadly pollution and deliver healthier, more prosperous communities.

Grading ports: From rising star to preparing to launch

The Clean Ports Report Card evaluates ports in four categories:

  • Emissions inventory – Scores how ports measure emissions, how often they report, and whether reporting is public. A strong emissions inventory helps identify and quantify pollution across port operations.
  • Clean air planning – Evaluates whether ports have clear targets, milestones, and roadmaps for reducing emissions and modernizing infrastructure.
  • Emissions reduction actions – Assesses actual steps to cut pollution, such as deploying low- or zero-emission trucks, ships, rail, harbor craft and cargo-handling equipment.
  • Community engagement and collaboration – Reviews how ports engage with local communities, including programs, workforce development, board representation, partnerships and commitments to transparency and procedural justice.

The inaugural grades for four major U.S. ports are:

  • San Diego – Rising star: Investing in zero-emission trucks, electric cranes and shore power, while collaborating with advocates to set clean air goals.
  • Houston – Wharf in progress: Has started tracking emissions and launched pilot projects, but lacks enforceable timelines, while neighboring communities suffer high asthma rates.
  • New Orleans – Preparing to launch: No emissions inventory or Clean Air Plan; limited community engagement that fails to address environmental justice concerns.
  • New York/New Jersey – Healthier harbor: Progress on emissions inventories and securing funding, but needs more aggressive emissions reductions efforts and deeper engagement with impacted residents.

A tool for accountability and action

“The Report Card is more than a score — it’s a roadmap for ports to take meaningful action to protect health, reduce pollution, and grow their economies,” said Fern Uennatornwaranggoon, Pacific Environment’s climate campaign director. “Cleaner, modernized ports mean high-road jobs, healthier families and stronger communities. But that can only happen if ports step up now and use available federal funding to put health and equity at the center of their operations.”

The Report Card is designed to be replicable by advocates across the country, with a template toolkit available to help communities evaluate and grade their own local ports. The Clean Ports Report Card equips residents and advocates with transparency tools to hold ports accountable and push for stronger public health protections.

“Communities are demanding that ports use federal funding and new state and local policies to deliver real, measurable cuts in deadly pollution while creating economic opportunity,” said Better World Group’s Madeline Oliver, who led the project. “We are hopeful this tool will help more citizens, community groups and other stakeholders understand the impacts of port pollution and the viable solutions to clean it up.”

View the full Clean Ports Report Cards at cleanportsreportcard.org. 

About the Clean Ports Report Card Project

The Clean Ports Report Card Project is a collaborative national initiative led by Better World Group, in partnership with Communities for a Healthy Bay, Environmental Community Advocates of Galena Park, Environmental Health Coalition, Friends of the Earth, Heal the Bay, Pacific Environment, Parents Engaging Parents New Jersey, Public Citizen, Rise St. James, RiSE4EJ, Sierra Club and West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project. Together, these partners developed a replicable scoring framework to track port performance on pollution reduction, transparency and community engagement — paving the way for cleaner, healthier port operations across the U.S.

Expert contacts