I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6871 

To require the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary 

of Energy, to establish a grant program to demonstrate the performance 

and reliability of heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles that use hydrogen as 

a fuel source, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2023 

Ms. PORTER (for herself and Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation 

with the Secretary of Energy, to establish a grant program to demonstrate the performance and reliability of 

heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles that use hydrogen as a fuel 

source, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hydrogen for Trucks 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HEAVY-DUTY FUEL CELL VEHICLE DEMONSTRA2 TION PROGRAM. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

5 ‘‘commercial motor vehicle’’ means a self-propelled 

6 vehicle used on highways in commerce principally to 

7 transport passengers or cargo, if the vehicle has a 

8 gross vehicle weight rating or gross vehicle weight of 

9 at least 26,001 pounds, whichever is greater, or is 

10 designed to transport more than 10 passengers, in11 cluding the driver. 

12 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti13 ty’’ means an entity described in subsection (b)(2). 

14 (3) FLEET.—The term ‘‘fleet’’ means the num15 ber of commercial motor vehicles owned and oper16 ated by an entity. 

17 (4) HEAVY-DUTY FUEL CELL VEHICLE.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘heavy-duty 

19 fuel cell vehicle’’ means a vehicle that— 

20 (i) has a manufacturer gross vehicle 

21 weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds, 

22 as determined by the Federal Highway Ad23 ministration; 

24 (ii) is not powered or charged by an 

25 internal combustion engine; and 


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1 (iii) is propelled solely by an electric 

2 motor that draws electricity from— 

3 (I) a fuel cell; or 

4 (II) a combination of a fuel cell 

5 and a battery. 

6 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘heavy-duty 

7 fuel cell vehicle’’ includes any off-road vehicle, 

8 such as a yard truck, that meets the require9 ments of subparagraph (A). 

10 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

11 the program established under subsection (b)(1). 

12 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of Transportation. 

14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta16 tion with the Secretary of Energy, shall establish a 

17 program under which the Secretary shall provide 

18 grants to eligible entities to assist the eligible enti19 ties in funding capital projects to purchase heavy20 duty fuel cell vehicles and related equipment, includ21 ing hydrogen fueling stations. 

22 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to re23 ceive a grant under the program, an entity shall 

24 be— 


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1 (A) a private heavy-duty truck fleet owner 

2 with high duty cycle or long-haul operations; 

3 (B) an operator with a ‘‘return to base’’ 

4 mode that requires refueling primarily at a sin5 gle station, including an airport, a delivery 

6 warehouse, and a shipping port; 

7 (C) a leasing firm; 

8 (D) an independent owner-operator; 

9 (E) a public hydrogen fueling station de10 veloper or operator; 

11 (F) a Federal, State, or local agency that 

12 owns, operates, leases, or otherwise controls a 

13 fleet of public vehicles; or 

14 (G) a partnership of 1 or more entities de15 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (E). 

16 (3) APPLICATIONS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara18 graph (B), an eligible entity desiring a grant 

19 under the program shall submit to the Sec20 retary an application at such time, in such 

21 manner, and containing such information as the 

22 Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

23 Energy, may require. 

24 (B) REQUIREMENT.—If an eligible entity 

25 desiring a grant under the program intends to 


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1 use the grant for only 1 of the uses described 

2 in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection 

3 (d)(1), the eligible entity shall include in the 

4 application under subparagraph (A) a descrip5 tion of— 

6 (i) if the grant is to be used only for 

7 the use described in subparagraph (A) of 

8 subsection (d)(1), the availability of not 

9 fewer than 1 hydrogen fueling station that 

10 can be used by heavy-duty fuel cell vehi11 cles; 

12 (ii) if the grant is to be used only for 

13 the use described in subparagraph (B) of 

14 subsection (d)(1), the availability of not 

15 fewer than 7 heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles 

16 that— 

17 (I) use hydrogen as a fuel source; 

18 and 

19 (II) will use 1 or more hydrogen 

20 fueling stations demonstrated using 

21 the grant; and 

22 (iii) the means by which the project of 

23 the eligible entity will expand the demand 

24 for and use of any existing infrastructure. 


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1 (4) CRITERIA.—In selecting eligible entities to 

2 receive grants under the program, the Secretary, in 

3 consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall— 

4 (A) take into account whether the eligible 

5 entity has the potential to expand the use of hy6 drogen demonstrated by the eligible entity using 

7 the grant to other applications within the region 

8 in which the eligible entity operates; and 

9 (B) to the maximum extent practicable— 

10 (i) select eligible entities operating in 

11 different regions of the United States— 

12 (I) to demonstrate different types 

13 of fleet operations, such as fleet oper14 ations with differing local hydrogen 

15 supplies, climate conditions, route 

16 lengths and geographies, and sizes of 

17 vehicles; and 

18 (II) to identify any differences in 

19 performance demonstrated by the 

20 heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles used by 

21 the eligible entity that are due to re22 gional characteristics; 

23 (ii) select eligible entities that intend 

24 to use the grant for both of the uses deVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Jan 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6871.IH H6871

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1 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

2 subsection (d)(1); and 

3 (iii) select projects that will generate 

4 the greatest benefit to low-income or dis5 advantaged communities (including cities, 

6 towns, counties, and reasonably isolated 

7 and divisible segments of a larger munici8 pality) with an annual median household 

9 income that is less than 100 percent of the 

10 statewide annual median household income 

11 for the State in which the community is lo12 cated, according to the most recent decen13 nial census. 

14 (5) PRIORITY.—In applying the criteria de15 scribed in paragraph (4), the Secretary, in consulta16 tion with the Secretary of Energy, shall prioritize se17 lecting— 

18 (A) projects that will provide greater net 

19 impact in avoiding or reducing emissions of 

20 greenhouse gases; 

21 (B) projects for which each applicable hy22 drogen fueling station is open to the public; and 

23 (C) eligible entities that provide greater 

24 than 20 percent cost share. 

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


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1 (1) to demonstrate the performance and reli2 ability of heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles in different re3 gions of the United States; 

4 (2) to provide a basis for relevant cost evalua5 tions and cost reductions; and 

6 (3) to accelerate the market deployment of 

7 heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles. 

8 (d) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re10 ceives a grant under the program shall use the grant 

11 to demonstrate the performance of— 

12 (A) not fewer than 7 heavy-duty fuel cell 

13 vehicles that use hydrogen as fuel source; or 

14 (B) 1 or more hydrogen fueling stations 

15 for use by heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles. 

16 (2) ELIGIBLE COSTS.—An eligible entity that 

17 receives a grant under the program may use the 

18 grant for the following costs: 

19 (A) The capital costs of— 

20 (i) the heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles de21 scribed in paragraph (1)(A), subject to 

22 paragraph (4); or 

23 (ii) constructing a station described in 

24 paragraph (1)(B). 


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1 (B) The costs, such as costs associated 

2 with the cost of labor, complying with mainte3 nance requirements, and administration of the 

4 program, of operating— 

5 (i) the heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles de6 scribed in paragraph (1)(A); or 

7 (ii) a station described in paragraph 

8 (1)(B). 

9 (C) Overhead expenses. 

10 (D) The costs of training personnel to en11 sure safety and best practices during construc12 tion, fueling and refueling, maintenance, and 

13 upkeep, as applicable, of— 

14 (i) the heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles de15 scribed in paragraph (1)(A); or 

16 (ii) a station described in paragraph 

17 (1)(B). 

18 (E) The costs of complying with— 

19 (i) the requirements of subsection (g); 

20 and 

21 (ii) any reporting requirements under 

22 subsection (h). 

23 (3) PROJECT LOCATIONS.—A project carried 

24 out with a grant provided under the program may 

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1 licly accessible locations, such as parking facilities at 

2 public buildings, public schools, and public parks, or 

3 in publicly accessible parking facilities owned or 

4 managed by a private entity. 

5 (4) OPERATION.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

7 subparagraph (B), an eligible entity that re8 ceives a grant under the program for a use de9 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) of para10 graph (1) may determine whether each applica11 ble hydrogen fueling station shall— 

12 (i) allow only private access; or 

13 (ii) be open to the public. 

14 (B) PUBLIC HYDROGEN FUELING STATION

15 DEVELOPERS AND OPERATORS.—An eligible en16 tity described in subsection (b)(2)(E) that re17 ceives a grant under the program to be used 

18 only for the use described in paragraph (1)(B) 

19 shall make each applicable hydrogen fueling 

20 station described in that paragraph open to the 

21 public. 

22 (5) CAPITAL COSTS OF VEHICLES.—With re23 spect to the capital costs described in paragraph 

24 (2)(A)(i), the amount of grant funds used for those 

25 capital costs shall not exceed, with respect to each 


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1 heavy-duty fuel cell vehicle purchased by the eligible 

2 entity and used for the applicable project, the lesser 

3 of— 

4 (A) an amount equal to the difference be5 tween— 

6 (i) the cost of the heavy-duty fuel cell 

7 vehicle; and 

8 (ii) the product obtained by multi9 plying— 

10 (I) the cost of a comparable 

11 gasoline- or diesel-fueled vehicle; and 

12 (II) 0.5; and 

13 (B) $500,000. 

14 (e) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a grant 

15 provided by the Secretary under the program shall be not 

16 more than $20,000,000. 

17 (f) COST SHARING.—The non-Federal share of the 

18 cost of a project carried out using a grant under the pro19 gram shall be not less than 20 percent. 

20 (g) LEAK DETECTION.—Each eligible entity that re21 ceives a grant under the program shall conduct— 

22 (1) a hydrogen leakage monitoring, reporting, 

23 and verification (also known as ‘‘MRV’’) program; 

24 and 


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

2 known as ‘‘LDAR’’) program. 

3 (h) REPORTING.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re5 ceives a grant under the program shall submit to the 

6 Secretary such operational data relating to eligible 

7 costs described in subsection (d)(2) as the Secretary, 

8 in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, may 

9 require to accelerate market deployment of heavy10 duty fuel cell vehicles that use hydrogen as a fuel 

11 source. 

12 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The operational data re13 quired by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall 

14 include, at a minimum, data relating to— 

15 (A) operational expenses; 

16 (B) fuel use; and 

17 (C) reliability. 

18 (3) SYSTEM.—The Secretary, in consultation 

19 with the Secretary of Energy, shall develop a system 

20 for data reporting and data sharing that allows simi21 lar fleet and fueling station operators to evaluate the 

22 performance of the program. 

23 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

24 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 


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1 out the program $200,000,000 for fiscal years 2024 

2 through 2028. 

Æ 


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