Frequently asked questions

ARCHES is a public-private partnership to create a sustainable, statewide, clean hydrogen hub in California and beyond. For more information, see https://archesh2.org/about/.

There are three ways to engage with ARCHES:

• Submitting a Memorandum of Commitment to contributor@archesh2.org will enable you to participate in ARCHES working groups and other opportunities shared to the MOC signatory mailing list.
• If you sign a Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA) with ARCHES, you will gain all privileges of an MOC signatory. The NDA is necessary to protect the confidential business information shared as part of the Hydrogen Hub funding opportunity.
• Submitting the ARCHES contact form will add you to a general mailing list for public ARCHES events and announcements. If your organization has already signed an MOC or NDA, you will be added to those mailing lists unless ARCHES is otherwise instructed by your organization.

The NDA can be modified and discussed with ARCHES. We will rarely accept modifications to the MOC and recommend parties sign an NDA instead of a modified MOC.

ARCHES will first review the agreement you signed. We aim to process Memoranda of Commitment within a week of their submission. Nondisclosure Agreements may take longer to process. The duration of these processes will depend on the number of submissions we receive. Once your agreement is approved, you will receive a confirmation from ARCHES and be added to the appropriate ARCHES email lists. Please add info@archesh2.org to your email client’s safe sender list to avoid messages being filtered as spam. You will receive an email from info@archesh2.org to catch you up on current events and inform you of future messages.

Please give us their email addresses when we confirm approval of your submitted MOC or NDA, or by emailing info@archesh2.org.

Check your spam folder; this is the primary reason people do not see ARCHES emails. If there are no ARCHES emails in your spam folder, please contact info@archesh2.org and we will troubleshoot with you.

Maximizing transparency within the limitations of state and federal law and a competitive environment is a top priority for ARCHES. To that end, we have hosted and will continue to host public meetings and discussions to share as much information as we can about ARCHES governance, plans, and processes. Our team is also meeting directly with community members to answer questions.

That said, many entities are competing for the $8 billion in hydrogen hub funding. Disclosing proposal contents would give our competition an advantage. In addition, the Procurement Integrity Act prohibits sharing contents of proposals for federal grant competitions. If and when it is feasible to reveal proposal information, ARCHES will do so in support of public transparency.

ARCHES recognizes this need and is exploring the best way to compensate and/or otherwise support the participation of community members and groups. This may take the form of reimbursement for lost wages, child support, transportation costs, etc.

ARCHES is committed to establishing and sustaining productive partnerships with community, EJ, and environmental advocates.

ARCHES is creating positions for community representatives at multiple levels of the organization to represent the interests of California communities at all aspects and phases of its operation, from project selection to governance. Community interests will be represented on the ARCHES Board and nominated by Advisory Committees representing all aspects of California communities, including organized labor, environmental NGOs, EJ and other representatives of impacted communities, cities and local governments, and tribal nations.

ARCHES is engaging community groups including labor leaders, environmental advocates, EJ leaders, and tribal nations to clarify questions about ARCHES and obtain inputs to inform planning.

ARCHES is creating a Community Benefits and Engagement Plan that will be a required component of all funded ARCHES projects. It will include significant community engagement and partnership components and is continuously evolving with input from diverse community stakeholders.

Additionally, ARCHES has components such as Workforce Development that include outreach and community engagement and support throughout the state. These activities will inform the ARCHES Board and actions.

ARCHES is a limited liability corporation with a management team and a Board of Directors. Ultimate decision-making authority rests with the Board. Project selection will be decided by the ARCHES Board, based on recommendations from a team of independent technical merit reviewers and ARCHES management. Decisions about project funding will be based on the ARCHES vetting process, which lays out a set of criteria for selecting projects. These criteria are based on a combination of the DOE requirements, California priorities, and ARCHES principles. ARCHES staff will vet applicants based on these criteria, and the ARCHES Board will make final decisions about which projects will apply for matching funds from the DOE and the State of California.

Community representatives will have seats on the ARCHES Board. Board members will be nominated by Advisory Committees representing different aspects of California communities, including organized labor, environmental NGOs, EJ and other representatives of impacted communities, cities and local governments, and tribal nations.

Additionally, ARCHES has components such as Workforce Development that include outreach and community engagement and support throughout the state. These activities will inform the ARCHES Board and actions.

The Bagley-Keene and Brown Acts do not apply to ARCHES since it is a private entity. However, ARCHES is committed to openness and transparency in all its proceedings.

ARCHES will be as open and transparent as possible about all its proceedings, while maintaining strict confidentiality where necessary to protect personal, proposal, and business information.

It is the intention of ARCHES to only fund the production and use of hydrogen 1) produced with renewable resources, as defined by the state of California, and 2) that meet or exceed federal carbon intensity requirements on a life cycle emission basis. Beyond that, ARCHES also will consider other emissions criteria from pollutants, water resources, etc. to be “green” hydrogen production.

All electrolytic hydrogen projects that receive funding support will have to meet ARCHES criteria. Proposals will be evaluated based on ARCHES vetting criteria and overall GHG, local air quality, state environmental goals, and community impacts. To be accepted as part of the state hydrogen hub, such projects will have to undergo rigorous analysis to show they do not emit criteria emissions, toxics, or noxious odors that harm local communities. In addition, DOE-funded hub projects must comply with DOE requirements and definitions.

ARCHES has developed a set of project selection criteria. A draft informed by conversations with EJ leaders throughout the state was shared with EJ groups and others who attended the October ARCHES Launch workshop in Long Beach. We refined the criteria in consultation with ARCHES partners who signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

ARCHES is still developing its Community Benefits Plan. As a start, we are referencing guidance documents such as the DOE Community Benefits Plan Toolkit.

However, ARCHES is prepared to make the following set of commitments to the community:

ARCHES Commitments to Community, Energy and Environmental Equity and Justice:

• ARCHES will only fund production, distribution, storage, and use of clean renewable hydrogen.
• ARCHES will not fund blending of hydrogen in natural gas distribution pipelines.
• ARCHES will include organized labor, cities and local governments, tribal nations, communities and environmental justice organizations in its governance and decision-making.
• ARCHES will involve local communities in decision-making about projects in their communities.
• ARCHES will ensure that training programs, career development support, and high-road career opportunities are available to California's disadvantaged communities.
• ARCHES will require that all projects advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
• ARCHES will require at least 40% of the benefits from its projects to flow to California’s disadvantaged communities.

ARCHES will only support state-of-the-art new technologies. We will also perform extensive modeling and analyses to inform project selection. ARCHES will conduct safety, codes, and standards work to determine appropriate mechanisms for monitoring and rectifying any potential hydrogen leaks. ARCHES projects will be required to monitor and repair leaks. The use of hydrogen fuel for many decades in industrial settings, including pipelines in Long Beach and Los Angeles Basin, has led to continuing improvements in technologies for repairing hydrogen leaks.

It is the intention of ARCHES to only fund power plants capable of using 100% hydrogen feedstock by the end of the DOE federal funding timeframe.