SACRAMENTO – The California Hydrogen Coalition today commended Governor Gavin Newsom for signing Senate Bill 1420, authored by Senator Anna Caballero (D-Salinas), a new law that streamlines permitting for new clean, renewable hydrogen production facilities needed to help California achieve its ambitious climate goals.

“We are grateful to Governor Newsom for recognizing the importance of hydrogen in California’s clean energy future,” said Teresa Cooke, executive director of the California Hydrogen Coalition. “With this law, the state is taking an important step towards unlocking the potential of renewable hydrogen and ensuring it’s on similar footing and has an opportunity for growth and development like other clean energy technologies.”

SB 1420 allows hydrogen production facilities—those that produce hydrogen from non-fossil fuel sources and receive funding from specific programs—to be included in the Environmental Leadership Development Program and the newly-created California Energy Commission-led consolidated permitting process. These programs are critical for removing barriers and accelerating the deployment of clean hydrogen technologies that will play a pivotal role in decarbonizing California’s energy and transportation sectors. Specifically, with the short timelines for operability of California’s hydrogen hub, SB 1420 is necessary to ensure we receive the full 1.2 billion dollar federal award and more importantly the over 10 billion dollars in private matching funds.

Gov. Newsom today signed two other bills supported by the California Hydrogen Coalition: 

• Senate Bill 347 (Newman), which streamlines the permitting and development of new zero-emission vehicle infrastructure by exempting electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling stations from California’s Subdivision Map Act

• Senate Bill 1418 (Archuleta), which streamlines the administrative approval process for hydrogen fueling stations in the same way we do for battery electric charging stations
  

Hydrogen is key to California’s efforts to meet its carbon neutrality goals. The California Air Resources Board’s 2022 Scoping Plan highlights hydrogen’s essential role in sectors including power generation, on-road transportation, shipping, aviation, heavy industry, and more. The plan calls for a rapid expansion of clean energy sources – projecting that hydrogen production must grow 1,700 times its current supply by 2045 to support the state’s transition from fossil fuels.

SB 1420 addresses a critical gap in the state’s clean energy policy by ensuring hydrogen projects can benefit from permit streamlining, just like wind and solar projects. As the ARB noted in its 2022 Scoping Plan, “given the pace at which we must transition away from fossil fuels, we absolutely must identify and address market and implementation barriers to be successful.”

About the California Hydrogen Coalition:

The California Hydrogen Coalition is dedicated to enabling California’s transition to zero emission vehicles by expanding the availability of reliable, convenient and affordable hydrogen fueling.

###