California would exempt Tesla Motors Inc. from some of its toughest environmental regulations as part of an incentive package being discussed with the automaker to build a massive battery factory in California, a key state senator is quoted by the Los Angeles Times.
“It would help them speed the process,” Sen. Ted Gaines said after a Friday meeting with Tesla officials at the company’s Palo Alto headquarters and assembly line in Fremont, east of San Francisco.
The plan being negotiated in the office of Gov. Jerry Brown could grant the automaker waivers for significant portions of the nearly half-century-old California Environmental Quality Act, Gaines said. The proposal is alarming some environmentalists.
The governor’s pitch also includes a number of tax breaks for Tesla that could be worth as much as $500 million, or about 10% of the project’s total cost, said Gaines, a Republican representing the Sacramento suburb of Rocklin.
The Brown administration is hustling to compete with four other states — Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas — for what Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk calls his “gigafactory.” Musk has described California as a “long shot” for snagging the proposed plant.
