LOS ANGELES – April 8, 2026 – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allocated about $70 million from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund or HMTF to the Port of Los Angeles for harbor maintenance, seismic resiliency and navigational safety improvements. The San Pedro Bay port complex was allocated a record $131.8 million.
The HMTF is funded by a commercial cargo tax paid by U.S. importers moving goods through U.S. ports. This money is then allocated for harbor maintenance and navigation improvements at those ports. Although the Port of Los Angeles and other “donor ports” contribute over half of the total funding to the HMTF, they have traditionally received less than 3% of that funding back for harbor improvements.
Reforms enacted in 2020 established a framework to address this imbalance and an initial round of funding was allocated to donor ports in Fiscal Year 2024. However, no funding was allocated in Fiscal Year 2025, leading to additional reforms enacted this year that ensure consistent implementation of this equitable funding formula.
Congress has appropriated $3.245 billion in HMTF funding for Fiscal Year 2026, and appropriated $$416.8 million specifically for donor and energy ports through Section 102 of the Water Resources Development Act. These funds ensure that ports like Los Angeles receive the support needed to keep their ports well maintained and competitive.
The port plans to use its HMTF allocation for a variety of maintenance and repair projects, including dredging, seismic safety upgrades, wharf and fender repairs, pile replacements, sediment removal and remediation, and improvements to slips and channels. The Port of Los Angeles has identified more than $6 billion in eligible expanded-use projects, many of which are shovel-ready and can immediately utilize new HMTF funding. Priority projects include:
- Berths 49-50 Wharf & Fender Repair – $25 million
- Berth 305 Wharf Retrofit – $18 million
- Berth 126 Wharf Seismic Upgrade – $322 million
- Berths 238-239 Marine Oil Terminal Improvements – $35 million
- Berths 167-169 Marine Oil Terminal Improvements – $44 million
- Legacy Sediment Removal & Remediation – $140 million