WHEREAS, California has adopted ambitious climate, air quality, and clean energy goals, including achieving statewide carbon neutrality by 2045 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors of the economy; and

WHEREAS, California’s climate commitments are further grounded in statute through the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, Assembly Bill 32 (Chapter 488 of the Statutes of 2006), which requires statewide reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and The 100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018, Senate Bill 100 (Chapter 312 of the Statutes of 2018), which mandates that all retail electricity sales in California come from renewable or zero-carbon resources by 2045, thereby reinforcing the need for clean, low-carbon energy carriers, such as hydrogen, to meet these statutory obligations; and

WHEREAS, Meeting these goals will require a portfolio of clean energy solutions capable of reducing emissions in sectors that are difficult to fully electrify using current technologies, including heavy-duty transportation, transit, port operations, firm dispatchable power generation, industrial processes, and other high-energy-demand applications; and

WHEREAS, Hydrogen produced and deployed based on a transparent, science-based carbon intensity standard can provide meaningful greenhouse gas reductions while supporting California’s air quality, public health, and environmental justice objectives; and

WHEREAS, A carbon intensity framework allows the state to evaluate hydrogen pathways based on life-cycle emissions, ensures accountability, and provides regulatory certainty while remaining technology neutral and adaptable to innovation; and

WHEREAS, Hydrogen can support decarbonization across multiple hard-to-electrify end markets, including, but not limited to, (1) public transit and intercity rail systems requiring zero-emission solutions for long-range and high-duty-cycle operations; (2) heavy-duty vehicle fleets, including drayage trucks, long-haul freight, refuse vehicles, and other commercial vehicles with demanding operational requirements; (3) port and maritime operations, including cargo handling equipment, vessels, locomotives, and other equipment critical to goods movement and supply chain reliability; (4) firm dispatchable power generation critical for maintaining power supply reliability and resilience in the face of increasing strain on California’s power grid and extreme weather events; and (5) industrial sectors, such as refining, cement, steel, chemicals, food processing, and other manufacturing activities where hydrogen can replace fossil fuels, serve as a feedstock, or provide high-temperature process heat; and

WHEREAS, Achieving scalable and cost-effective hydrogen deployment will require investments in refueling infrastructure, streamlined and transparent grid interconnection processes for electrolytic hydrogen producers, and the development of dedicated hydrogen pipelines or common carrier infrastructure that enable open access, efficient distribution, and avoidance of bottlenecks that could impede California’s decarbonization goals; and

WHEREAS, Strategic deployment of hydrogen in these end markets can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and criteria air pollutants, particularly in communities disproportionately impacted by transportation and industrial pollution; and

WHEREAS, The development of hydrogen production, transportation, and end-use projects must uphold labor standards, ensure robust worker safety protections, and incorporate meaningful engagement with environmental justice communities, including requirements for community consultation, local benefit planning, and transparent monitoring to ensure that hydrogen infrastructure deployment does not exacerbate existing pollution burdens or increase industrial risks in disadvantaged communities; and

WHEREAS, California state agencies, including the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the State Air Resources Board, are developing and implementing carbon intensity-based policies and programs to support clean fuels and zero-emission technologies; and

WHEREAS, Federal programs, established under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) and the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169), present opportunities for California to align state carbon intensity standards with federal investments, incentives, and regional hydrogen initiatives; now, therefore, be it