II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3806 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 10 (legislative day, MARCH 7), 2022 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, and Mr. CASSIDY) 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, 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 of 2022’’. 


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

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti5 ty’’ means an entity described in subsection (b)(2). 

6 (2) HEAVY-DUTY FUEL CELL VEHICLE.—The 

7 term ‘‘heavy-duty fuel cell vehicle’’ means a vehicle 

8 that— 

9 (A) has a manufacturer gross vehicle 

10 weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds, as 

11 determined by the Federal Highway Adminis12 tration; 

13 (B) is not powered or charged by an inter14 nal combustion engine; and 

15 (C) is propelled solely by an electric motor 

16 that draws electricity from— 

17 (i) a fuel cell; or 

18 (ii) a combination of a fuel cell and a 

19 battery. 

20 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

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

22 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of Transportation. 

24 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

26 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in 


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1 consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall es2 tablish a grant program under which the Secretary 

3 shall provide grants to eligible entities to assist the 

4 eligible entities in funding capital projects to pur5 chase heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles and related equip6 ment, including hydrogen fueling stations. 

7 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to re8 ceive a grant under the program, an entity shall 

9 be— 

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

11 with high duty cycle operations; 

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

13 mode that requires refueling primarily at a sin14 gle station, including an airport, a delivery 

15 warehouse, and a shipping port; 

16 (C) an independent owner-operator; 

17 (D) a public hydrogen fueling station de18 veloper or operator; 

19 (E) a Federal, State, or local agency that 

20 owns, operates, leases, or otherwise controls a 

21 fleet of public vehicles; or 

22 (F) a partnership of 1 or more entities de23 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (E). 

24 (3) APPLICATIONS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), an eligible entity desiring a grant 

3 under the program shall submit to the Sec4 retary an application at such time, in such 

5 manner, and containing such information as the 

6 Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

7 Energy, may require. 

8 (B) REQUIREMENT.—If an eligible entity 

9 desiring a grant under the program intends to 

10 use the grant for only 1 of the uses described 

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

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

13 application under subparagraph (A) a descrip14 tion of— 

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

16 the use described in subparagraph (A) of 

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

18 fewer than 1 hydrogen fueling station that 

19 can be used by heavy-duty fuel cell vehi20 cles; 

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

22 the use described in subparagraph (B) of 

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

24 fewer than 10 heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles 

25 that— 


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1 (I) use hydrogen as a fuel source; 

2 and 

3 (II) will use 1 or more hydrogen 

4 fueling stations demonstrated using 

5 the grant; and 

6 (iii) the means by which the project of 

7 the eligible entity will expand the demand 

8 for and use of any existing infrastructure. 

9 (4) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting eligible en10 tities to receive a grant under the program, the Sec11 retary, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, 

12 shall— 

13 (A) take into account whether the eligible 

14 entity has the potential to expand the use of hy15 drogen demonstrated by the eligible entity using 

16 the grant to other applications within the region 

17 in which the eligible entity operates; and 

18 (B) to the maximum extent practicable— 

19 (i) select eligible entities operating in 

20 different regions of the United States— 

21 (I) to demonstrate different types 

22 of fleet operations, such as fleet oper23 ations with differing local hydrogen 

24 supplies, climate conditions, route 


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1 lengths and geographies, and sizes of 

2 vehicles; and 

3 (II) to identify any differences in 

4 performance demonstrated by the 

5 heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles used by 

6 the eligible entity that are due to re7 gional characteristics; 

8 (ii) select eligible entities that intend 

9 to use the grant for both of the uses de10 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

11 subsection (d)(1); and 

12 (iii) select projects that will generate 

13 the greatest benefit to low-income or dis14 advantaged communities (including cities, 

15 towns, counties, and reasonably isolated 

16 and divisible segments of a larger munici17 pality) with an annual median household 

18 income that is less than 100 percent of the 

19 statewide annual median household income 

20 for the State in which the community is lo21 cated, according to the most recent decen22 nial census. 

23 (5) PRIORITY.—In selecting eligible entities to 

24 receive a grant under the program, the Secretary, in 

25 consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall give 


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1 priority to projects that will provide greater net im2 pact in avoiding or reducing emissions of greenhouse 

3 gases. 

4 (6) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—In selecting eli5 gible entities to receive a grant under the program, 

6 the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

7 Energy, shall give special consideration to— 

8 (A) if the grant is to be used for the use 

9 described in subsection (d)(1)(B), projects in 

10 which each applicable hydrogen fueling station 

11 is open to the public; or 

12 (B) eligible entities that provide greater 

13 than 20 percent cost share. 

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

15 (1) to demonstrate the performance and reli16 ability of heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles in different re17 gions of the United States; 

18 (2) to provide a basis for relevant cost evalua19 tions and cost reductions; and 

20 (3) to accelerate the market deployment of 

21 heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles. 

22 (d) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re24 ceives a grant under the program shall use the grant 

25 to demonstrate the performance of— 


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1 (A) not fewer than 10 heavy-duty fuel cell 

2 vehicles that use hydrogen as fuel source; or 

3 (B) not fewer than 1 hydrogen fueling sta4 tion for use by heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles. 

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

6 receives a grant under the program may use the 

7 grant for the following costs: 

8 (A) The capital costs of— 

9 (i) the heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles de10 scribed in paragraph (1)(A), subject to 

11 paragraph (4); or 

12 (ii) a station described in paragraph 

13 (1)(B). 

14 (B) The costs of operating— 

15 (i) the heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles de16 scribed in paragraph (1)(A); or 

17 (ii) a station described in paragraph 

18 (1)(B). 

19 (C) Fuel costs. 

20 (D) Overhead costs. 

21 (E) The costs of training personnel to en22 sure safety and best practices during construc23 tion, fueling and refueling, maintenance, and 

24 upkeep, as applicable, of— 


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1 (i) the heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles de2 scribed in paragraph (1)(A); or 

3 (ii) a station described in paragraph 

4 (1)(B). 

5 (F) The costs of complying with— 

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

7 and 

8 (ii) any reporting requirements under 

9 subsection (h). 

10 (3) OPERATION.— 

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

12 subparagraph (B), an eligible entity that re13 ceives a grant under the program for a use de14 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) of para15 graph (1) may determine whether each applica16 ble hydrogen fueling station shall— 

17 (i) allow only private access; or 

18 (ii) be open to the public. 

19 (B) PUBLIC HYDROGEN FUELING STATION

20 DEVELOPERS AND OPERATORS.—An eligible en21 tity described in subsection (b)(2)(D) that re22 ceives a grant under the program to be used 

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

24 shall make each applicable hydrogen fueling 


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1 station described in that paragraph open to the 

2 public. 

3 (4) CAPITAL COSTS OF VEHICLES.—With re4 spect to the capital costs described in paragraph 

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

6 capital costs shall not exceed, with respect to each 

7 heavy-duty fuel cell vehicle purchased by the eligible 

8 entity and used for the applicable project, the lesser 

9 of— 

10 (A) the amount by which the cost of the 

11 heavy-duty fuel cell vehicle exceeds 50 percent 

12 of the cost of a comparable gasoline or diesel 

13 fueled vehicle; and 

14 (B) $500,000. 

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

16 provided by the Secretary under the program shall be not 

17 more than $20,000,000. 

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

19 cost of a project carried out using a grant under the pro20 gram shall be not less than 20 percent. 

21 (g) LEAK DETECTION.—Each eligible entity that re22 ceives a grant under the program shall conduct— 

23 (1) a hydrogen leakage monitoring, reporting, 

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

25 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 the period of fiscal 

2 years 2023 through 2027. 

Æ 


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