Improvements to Maintenance Processes for Reliable Operations that are Verifiable and Effective for Hydrogen
Summary
SCH Number
2024050732
Public Agency
California Energy Commission
Document Title
Improvements to Maintenance Processes for Reliable Operations that are Verifiable and Effective for Hydrogen
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
5/16/2024
Document Description
The project will make operations and maintenance improvements to 38 existing FirstElement Fuel hydrogen refueling stations located in California.
Contact Information
Name
Mark Johnson
Agency Name
California Energy Commission
Job Title
Air Pollution Specialist
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
Aliso Viejo, Baldwin Park, Burbank, Campbell, Coalinga, Costa Mesa, Cupertino, Fountain Valley, Fremont, Hayward, La Canada-Flintridge, Lake Forest, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Mill Valley, Oakland, Orange, Pasadena, Placentia, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Saratoga, South Pasadena, South San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Thousand Oaks, Truckee
Counties
Alameda, Fresno, Los Angeles, Marin, Nevada, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Ventura
Regions
Statewide
Other Location Info
Located at 38 hydrogen stations across the state of California.
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
15301("Existing Facilities"), 15302 ("Replacement or reconstruction")
Reasons for Exemption
The proposed project will be carried out at existing hydrogen refueling stations and will provide operations and maintenance improvements via hardware, software, and/or process driven solutions.
Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, sect. 15301 provides that projects which consist of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, and which involve negligible or no expansion of use beyond that existing at the time of the lead agency’s determination, are categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act.
The proposed project replaces the older obsolete card readers at existing hydrogen stations with newer generation card readers. The proposed project will also replace critical equipment at existing hydrogen stations such as compressors and cryopumps. Because the existing facilities are already used for hydrogen fueling, the proposed upgrades and improvements to the hydrogen refueling station involves negligible or no expansion of the existing or former use. Therefore, the project falls within section 15301 and will not have a significant effect on the environment.
Section 15302 provides that projects which consist of replacement of existing structures and facilities on the same site and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity of the structure or facility replaced are exempt from CEQA. Here the project involves replacement of critical equipment for existing hydrogen refueling stations including card readers, compressors and cryopumps.
The project will not impact an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern where designated, precisely mapped, and officially adopted pursuant to law by federal, state, or local agencies; does not involve any cumulative impacts of successive projects of the same type in the same place that might be considered significant; does not involve unusual circumstances that might have a significant effect on the environment; will not result in damage to scenic resources within a highway officially designated as a state scenic highway; the project site is not included on any list compiled pursuant to Government Code section 65962.5; and the project will not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. Therefore, none of the exceptions to categorical exemptions listed in CEQA Guidelines section 15300.2 apply to this project, and this project will not have a significant effect on the environment.
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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