II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 647 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program 

to support the use of hydrogen- or ammonia-fueled equipment at ports 

and to require the Secretary of the department in which the Coast 

Guard is operating to conduct a study, together with the Secretary 

of Energy and the Secretary of Transportation, regarding the feasibility 

and safety of using hydrogen and ammonia as fuels in maritime applications. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2, 2023 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. COONS, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Ms. 

MURKOWSKI, Mr. HEINRICH, and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 

grant program to support the use of hydrogen- or ammonia-fueled equipment at ports and to require the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is 

operating to conduct a study, together with the Secretary 

of Energy and the Secretary of Transportation, regarding the feasibility and safety of using hydrogen and 

ammonia as fuels in maritime applications. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hydrogen for Ports 

3 Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. MARITIME FUEL MODERNIZATION GRANT PRO5 GRAM. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti8 ty’’ means an entity described in subsection (d). 

9 (2) ELIGIBLE FUEL.—The term ‘‘eligible fuel’’ 

10 means— 

11 (A) hydrogen; or 

12 (B) ammonia. 

13 (3) LOW-INCOME OR DISADVANTAGED COMMU14 NITY.—The term ‘‘low-income or disadvantaged 

15 community’’ means a community (including a city, a 

16 town, a county, and any reasonably isolated and di17 visible segment of a larger municipality) with an an18 nual median household income that is less than 100 

19 percent of the statewide annual median household 

20 income for the State in which the community is lo21 cated, according to the most recent decennial census. 

22 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

23 the program established under subsection (b). 

24 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Transportation. 


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1 (6) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

2 government’’ means the recognized governing body 

3 of any Indian or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, 

4 pueblo, village, community, component band, or com5 ponent reservation, individually identified (including 

6 parenthetically) on the list published most recently 

7 as of the date of enactment of this Act pursuant to 

8 section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian 

9 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

10 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later than 

11 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary, in coordination with the Secretary of Energy, shall 

13 establish a program under which the Secretary shall pro14 vide grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities 

15 for— 

16 (1) the purchase, installation, planning, design, 

17 or construction of, as appropriate— 

18 (A) fuel cell cargo-handling equipment that 

19 uses an eligible fuel; 

20 (B) fuel cell drayage or long-haul trucks 

21 that— 

22 (i) use an eligible fuel; and 

23 (ii) are for use at ports; 

24 (C) fuel cell ferries, tugboats, dredging ves25 sels, container ships, bulk carriers, fuel tankers, 


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1 commercial fishing vessels, cruise ships, or 

2 other marine vessels that use an eligible fuel; 

3 (D) fuel cell locomotives that— 

4 (i) use an eligible fuel; and 

5 (ii) are for use at ports; 

6 (E) fuel cell shore power systems that— 

7 (i) use an eligible fuel; and 

8 (ii) are used for ships while docked at 

9 port; 

10 (F) onsite fuel cell power plants that— 

11 (i) use an eligible fuel; and 

12 (ii) are located at port facilities; or 

13 (G) port infrastructure for establishing or 

14 expanding the supply of eligible fuel for import, 

15 export, storage, bunkering, or fueling; and 

16 (2) the training of ship crew and shore per17 sonnel— 

18 (A) to safely handle eligible fuel; and 

19 (B) to perform operation and maintenance 

20 on equipment that uses an eligible fuel. 

21 (c) GOALS.—The goals of the program shall be— 

22 (1) to demonstrate hydrogen, ammonia, or fuel 

23 cell technologies in maritime and associated logistics 

24 applications; 


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1 (2) to assist in the development and validation 

2 of technical targets for hydrogen, ammonia, and fuel 

3 cell systems for maritime and associated logistics ap4 plications; 

5 (3) to benchmark the conditions required for 

6 broad commercialization of hydrogen, ammonia, and 

7 fuel cell technologies in maritime and associated lo8 gistics applications; 

9 (4) to assess the operational and technical con10 siderations for— 

11 (A) installing, constructing, and using 

12 hydrogen- or ammonia-fueled equipment; and 

13 (B) supporting infrastructure at ports; and 

14 (5) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and im15 prove air quality in areas located in and around 

16 ports. 

17 (d) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity eligible to receive 

19 a grant under the program is— 

20 (A) a State; 

21 (B) a political subdivision of a State; 

22 (C) a local government; 

23 (D) a public agency or publicly chartered 

24 authority established by 1 or more States; 


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1 (E) a special purpose district with a trans2 portation function; 

3 (F) a Tribal government or a consortium 

4 of Tribal governments; 

5 (G) a port authority for a port; 

6 (H) an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian 

7 entity that has jurisdiction over a port author8 ity or a port; 

9 (I) a multistate or multijurisdictional 

10 group of entities described in any of subpara11 graphs (A) through (H); or 

12 (J) subject to paragraph (2), a private en13 tity or group of private entities, including the 

14 owners or operators of 1 or more facilities at a 

15 port. 

16 (2) JOINT ELIGIBILITY WITH PRIVATE ENTI17 TIES.—A private entity or group of private entities 

18 is eligible for a grant under the program if— 

19 (A) the private entity or group of private 

20 entities partners with an entity described in any 

21 of subparagraphs (A) through (I) of paragraph 

22 (1) for purposes of applying for, and carrying 

23 out activities under, the grant; and 

24 (B) the entity described in the applicable 

25 subparagraph of paragraph (1) is the lead entiVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:16 Mar 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647

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1 ty with respect to the application and those ac2 tivities. 

3 (e) APPLICATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 

5 grant under the program shall submit to the Sec6 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 

7 and containing such information as the Secretary 

8 may require. 

9 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The application of an eli10 gible entity described in subparagraph (J) of sub11 section (d)(1) shall be submitted jointly with an en12 tity described in subparagraphs (A) through (I) of 

13 that subsection. 

14 (f) CONSIDERATIONS.—In providing grants under the 

15 program, the Secretary, to the maximum extent prac16 ticable, shall select projects that— 

17 (1) will generate the greatest benefit to low-in18 come or disadvantaged communities; 

19 (2) represent a combination of land-side and 

20 vessel-side end-uses of eligible fuel; 

21 (3) maximize the creation or retention of jobs 

22 in the United States; and 

23 (4) provide the highest job quality. 

24 (g) PRIORITY.—In selecting eligible entities to receive 

25 grants under the program, the Secretary shall give priority 


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1 to projects that will provide greater net impact in avoiding 

2 or reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. 

3 (h) LEAK DETECTION.—Each eligible entity that re4 ceives a grant under the program shall conduct— 

5 (1) a hydrogen leakage monitoring, reporting, 

6 and verification (also known as ‘‘MRV’’) program 

7 for all eligible fuel used by the eligible entity; and 

8 (2) a hydrogen leak detection and repair (also 

9 known as ‘‘LDAR’’) program for all eligible fuel 

10 used by the eligible entity. 

11 (i) FUNDING.— 

12 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec14 retary to carry out the program $100,000,000 for 

15 each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 

16 (2) HUMAN-OPERATED EQUIPMENT REQUIRE17 MENT.—In carrying out the program, the Secretary 

18 shall ensure that funding is made available for each 

19 fiscal year for cargo-handling equipment that uses 

20 an eligible fuel and is human-operated. 

21 SEC. 3. STUDY ON FEASIBILITY AND SAFETY OF USING HY22 DROGEN AND AMMONIA AS FUELS IN MARI23 TIME APPLICATIONS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the departVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:16 Mar 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647

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1 ment in which the Coast Guard is operating, in consulta2 tion with the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Trans3 portation, and the heads of other Federal departments and 

4 agencies, as appropriate, shall conduct, and submit to the 

5 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

6 the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and In7 frastructure of the House of Representatives a report de8 scribing the results of, a study— 

9 (1) to fully address the challenges to ensure the 

10 safe use and handling of hydrogen, ammonia, and 

11 other hydrogen-based fuels on vessels and in ports; 

12 (2) to identify, compare, and evaluate the feasi13 bility of, the safety, environmental, and health im14 pacts of, and best practices with respect to, the use 

15 of hydrogen-derived fuels, including ammonia, as a 

16 shipping fuel; 

17 (3) to identify and evaluate considerations for 

18 hydrogen and ammonia storage, including— 

19 (A) at ports; 

20 (B) on board vessels; and 

21 (C) for subsea hydrogen storage; and 

22 (4) to assess the cost and value of a hydrogen 

23 or ammonia strategic reserve, either as a new facility 

24 or as a modification to the Strategic Petroleum Re25 serve established under part B of title I of the EnVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:16 Mar 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647

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1 ergy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6231 

2 et seq.). 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out subsection (a), 

4 the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard 

5 is operating shall— 

6 (1) consult with entities in the private sector 

7 with experience in the hydrogen or ammonia indus8 try; 

9 (2) take into account lessons learned from dem10 onstration projects in other industries, including— 

11 (A) projects carried out in the United 

12 States; 

13 (B) projects carried out in other countries; 

14 and 

15 (C) projects relating to the automotive in16 dustry, buses, petroleum refining, chemical pro17 duction, fertilizer production, and stationary 

18 power; and 

19 (3) evaluate the applicability of the lessons de20 scribed in paragraph (2) to the use of hydrogen in 

21 maritime and associated logistics applications. 

Æ 


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