An aerial view shows cars parked at the Tesla Fremont plant in Fremont, California on February 10, 2022.
Josh Adelson | AFP | Getty Images
Tesla It reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after regulators determined that Elon Musk’s electric and solar car business had violated the Clean Air Act at an automobile assembly plant in Fremont, California.
according to announcement From the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday, Tesla will pay a fine of $275,000 — which is immaterial to a business that reported $2.3 billion in net income over the course of the year. Fourth quarter of 2021.
The Environmental Protection Agency explained that Tesla violated regulations known as the National Hazardous Air Pollutant Emission Standards for automotive surface coatings from October 2016 through September 2019 in Fremont.
as CNBC previously reported, The paint shop at the Tesla Automobile Factory in Fremont suffered multiple fires during those years. In 2018, employees told CNBC that months before a single fire in April of that year, filters under paint booths and exhaust systems, intended to clean and carry air in and out of the building, were visibly covered in clear paint and varnish.
The EPA announcement on Tuesday said Tesla failed to “develop and/or implement a business practice plan to reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants from storage and mixing of materials used in vehicle paint operations.”
Tesla, which bills itself as a “sustainable” company, has also neglected to even measure emissions from its paint operations, failing to collect and keep legally required records associated with emission rates of hazardous air pollutants, according to an EPA announcement.
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