For West Virginians in communities with a planned hydrogen facility, an impact study is an opportunity to officially register questions
by Sarah Elbeshbishi for Mountain State Spotlight
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West Virginians with questions or concerns about the planned regional network of hydrogen facilities across Appalachia have until March 3 to submit comments to the U.S. Department of Energy to help shape its study of the project’s environmental impact.
The agency’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations is asking for public input as it begins to assess the potential impacts of the project.
The federally-backed project to produce, store, distribute and use hydrogen as an energy source across West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania has faced criticism over the lack of public involvement in its development.
Residents have voiced concerns over the lack of transparency and information from the project developers and the federal government. Their concerns have grown as several partners have backed out of the project over uncertainty surrounding a financial incentive.
Developers warned last year that strict carbon limits for a key tax credit, which is aimed at incentivizing hydrogen production, would impact the financial viability of many of the projects.
Here’s what to know.
It starts with the notice of intent
Last month, the DOE published a notice of intent in the Federal Register announcing that the agency was beginning to work on an Environmental Impact Statement, EIS, to assess the potential impacts of financially investing in the regional hydrogen hub project.
So far, the DOE has distributed $30 million of the nearly $1 billion of federal funding allocated for the Appalachian hydrogen hub.
The federal agency also announced that it was seeking public comments to help the DOE establish the scope of its assessment. The deadline to submit comments is March 3, 2025.
Once the public scoping period ends, the agency will review and consider the comments when preparing the draft of its environmental impact study. Comments will become part of the public record.
What we know about the Appalachian hydrogen hub
As of now, the developers are proposing 12 projects across West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania to help accelerate hydrogen production and technologies as well as build out the infrastructure necessary. However, because the exact locations of those facilities have not been announced, it’s not clear how many projects will be located in West Virginia.
The lack of public details, including specific location sites for the proposed facilities, has been a major contention point. Potential project sites are currently “under evaluation” and will be “determined following extensive analysis of many factors, including community and stakeholder inputs,” according to the project’s website.
Should the DOE move forward with the hydrogen hub following this study, the agency will conduct another environmental impact assessment for individual projects once specific sites have been identified.
The current purpose and scope of the study is to “evaluate the potential impacts to the human environment associated with funding the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub” as well as the impacts associated with the infrastructure and technologies proposed in the project, including electricity and water usage.
The DOE anticipates evaluating impacts related to land use, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, water quality and human health and safety.
Here’s how you engage with it, and what you can expect.
This process is intended to help the DOE identify additional issues and concerns that should be considered as well as propose alternative actions the agency could take instead.
Comments can be broad or specific but should be relevant to the process or the potential environmental impacts. However, the agency encourages very specific and well-detailed comments that fully explain the importance of the issues raised.
Written comments can be submitted online under the docket number DOE-HQ-2024-0082. People can also mail in their comments labeled “DOE/EIS-0569” and addressed to TRC APPALACHIAN HYDROGEN HUB Coordinator, Teays Corporate Centre, 135 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 540, Scott Depot, West Virginia 25560
People can also provide comments at the four public scoping meetings the agency will hold. One of these will be a two-hour virtual meeting on Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.
The agency will hold three in-person meetings. Dates, times and locations of those meetings have not yet been determined but will be shared at least two weeks before the meetings on a DOE website dedicated to the environmental study process. According to the site, the in-person meetings are slated for February 2025.
DOE representatives will also be available to answer questions and provide additional information about the process during the meetings.
Following the public scoping period, the agency anticipates releasing the draft of the study in October and then publishing the final study in April 2026 after another public comment period for the draft.
