Posted on March 30, 2022
The Corps’ budget, which includes funding to complete the ship channel project, was unveiled on Monday as part of the $5.8-trillion spending plan for FY2023 by the Biden Administration.
Funding to complete the Port of Corpus Christi’s year-long ship channel improvement project could be coming.
A 2023 fiscal year budget proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers, if approved, would allocate more than $157 million to finish the project, which began in May 2019 to widen and dredge the channel to a depth of 54 feet to accommodate larger vessels capable of carrying a greater amount and wider variety of goods.
The Corps’ proposed budget was unveiled Monday as part of a $5.8 trillion spending plan President Joe Biden sent to Congress for the upcoming fiscal year.
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“It is a great day for the Sparkling City by the Sea,” Chief Executive Officer Sean Strawbridge told the Caller-Times. “This is light at the end of the tunnel of a project that is 32 years in, thus far.”
The Corpus Christi port is the only seaport in the nation to receive navigation construction funds. It is one of four construction projects to receive the final portion of funding in the nation, according to the proposed Corps budget, which totals $6.6 billion.
The project has received nearly $250 million in federal appropriations to the USACE thus far, with the Port of Corpus Christi appropriating another $190 million in cost share funds, Strawbridge said.
Monday’s announcement brings the total federal allocations to above $453 million.
The Corps also proposed allocating $6.5 million for operational and maintenance costs for the Corpus Christi Ship Channel.
Funding allocation likely a reaction to global affairs
The proposed budget amount of $157.3 million is the largest single-year budgetary allocation from the federal government compared to prior years’ budgets, Strawbridge said.
For fiscal year 2021, the Corps allocated more than $100.3 million for the project.
For fiscal year 2022, the first budget drafted under the Biden administration, no funds were allocated to the project.
That decision was made under a larger initiative by the Corps not to fund work that directly subsidizes fossil fuels, including work that lowers the cost of production, lowers the cost of consumption or raises the revenues retained by producers of fossil fuels.
Earlier this month, Strawbridge said that decision by the Biden administration “unfairly vilified” the oil and gas sector, leaving the sector with a lack of capital that would otherwise be invested in exploration and expanding production.
On Monday, Strawbridge said the funding proposal of more than $157 million to complete the project may be the Biden administration reacting to global affairs and market needs as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“This is a clear indication to us that this administration is revising its energy policy. That’s likely a result of the sanctions that have been placed on Russia coupled with the burgeoning need for more energy globally and the importance of American producers on the world stage,” he said. “We certainly are appreciative of them listening and taking action.”
Delayed project completion date
The four-phase ship channel improvement project, which originally had an estimated completion date of June 2023, is now slated to be completed in late 2023.
Strawbridge said that delay is a result of the lack of appropriations for the project in the last year. The bidding process for Phase 4 could not begin until the funding was allocated.
“Nevertheless,” he said, referring to the delay, “we’re extremely excited about this project, which will render the Corpus Christi ship channel the most improved ship channel in the entire U.S. Gulf.”
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Phase 3, which is ongoing after beginning in September, will extend west of the La Quinta Junction through the Chemical Turning Basin in the port’s Inner Harbor. The Corps awarded a $139 million construction contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., LLC. The Phase 2 contract was awarded to Callan Marine Ltd. in April 2020.
Strawbridge said the advertisement for bids and the award for Phase 4 of the project could take place as soon as this summer.
