June 4, 2018
Mary D. Nichols, Chair
California Air Resources Board
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE:

David Lanier, Secretary
Labor and Workforce Development Agency
800 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA 95814

Concept Paper for Clean Vehicle Rebate Project Potential Procedures for Certifying
Manufacturers’ Fair Treatment of Workers

Dear Chair Nichols and Secretary Lanier:
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the “Concept Paper for Public Comment:
Potential Procedures for Certifying Manufacturers’ Fair Treatment of Workers for Clean
Vehicle Rebate Project Eligibility” released by staff of the California Air Resources Board
(CARB) and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) on May 23, 2018.
Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. Since the
company’s founding in 2003, our goal has been to accelerate the advent of sustainable
transport by bringing compelling mass-market electric cars to market as soon as possible.
Tesla shares the State of California’s air quality, clean transportation, and climate goals.
We appreciate the efforts of your respective agencies’ staff to “develop procedures for
certifying manufacturers of vehicles included in the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) as
being fair and responsible in the treatment of their workers,” pursuant to legislative
direction. As discussed below, we have serious concerns with and objections to the draft
certification procedures in the Concept Paper as inequitable and in violation of applicable
legal standards.
The draft procedures would establish a certification process for manufacturers of CVRPeligible vehicles that would apply to each manufacturing plant where CVRP-eligible vehicles
are built. By focusing on locally applicable laws “concerning wages, workplace safety, rights
to association and assembly, and nondiscrimination standards,” however, the draft
procedures effectively penalize an automaker for locating manufacturing in California even
though they are subject to the strongest labor standards.
At a minimum, any procedures must be applied consistently to all companies that
manufacture CVRP-eligible vehicles, including those that have manufacturing facilities
located outside of California in jurisdictions with lesser labor standards. We believe a
workable self-certification framework can be developed that respects applicable legal
requirements, and we reserve the right to submit further comments on this issue.
These comments on the draft certification procedures are submitted pursuant to the
guidance in the Concept Paper.

Tesla, Inc.
3500 Deer Creek Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304
p +650 681 5100 f +650 681 5101

 Introduction
California’s 2017 Climate Change Scoping Plan, which charts the path for meeting the state’s
greenhouse gas emissions and air quality goals, specifically calls for major increases in zeroemission vehicles (ZEVs). In January 2018, Governor Brown set a goal of at least 5 million
ZEVs on California roads by 2030 and, as set forth in Executive Order B-48-18, ordered that
“all State entities work with the private sector” to achieve this goal.
The Executive Order notes that “further boosting California’s zero-emission vehicle market
will strengthen the economy, [and] improve air quality and public health.” It specifically
finds that “California must continue to attract and encourage significant investments in
zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure” from car manufacturers and other entities.
The Clean Vehicle Rebate Project plays an important role in promoting ZEV adoption by
providing income-eligible California residents with rebates for the purchase or lease of new,
eligible clean cars. The stated goal of the program is to “encourage and accelerate zero- and
near-zero-emission, on-road light duty vehicle deployment and technology innovation.”
According to the Concept Paper, “CVRP rebates have been an important factor in driving
ZEV market growth in California,” and effective administration of the program will play a key
role in achieving the State’s goal of 5 million ZEVs on California roads by 2030.
Tesla shares the State of California’s air quality, clean transportation, and climate goals, and
is the only automaker fully aligned with those goals. This includes dramatically reducing
carbon emissions and criteria pollutants from the transportation sector. We are working
hard to help achieve the Administration’s 5 million ZEVs goal, and we look forward to
accelerating these tailpipe emission reductions through commercialization of our zeroemission heavy-duty Semi in 2019.
Tesla is the only automaker that is building electric cars at scale in California and, for that
matter, the only automaker building any kind of passenger vehicle in the state. We are one
of the largest manufacturing employers in California, with more than 20,000 workers in the
state, and we directly invest billions of dollars into California’s economy – more than $4
billion in 2017 alone. We have done this while others look at locating auto manufacturing
operations in California as a competitive disadvantage.
Comment Period Is Unreasonably Short
Tesla appreciates the opportunity to comment on the draft certification procedures in the
Concept Paper. However, requiring the submittal of comments by June 4, 2018 – only 7
business days – is greatly rushed and woefully inadequate to allow meaningful participation
by all stakeholders, including manufacturers of CVRP-eligible vehicles.
This is especially problematic given that prior to the May 23rd release of the Concept Paper,
the agencies had not previewed the approach taken in the draft certification procedures,
which focus on locally applicable labor laws for each manufacturing facility where CVRPeligible vehicles are made. This approach is fundamentally flawed because it exacerbates an
unequal playing field were locally applicable labor laws generally are weaker outside of
California. In short, it effectively penalizes the customers of companies that have chosen to
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 locate their manufacturing facilities in California even though those are the companies that
are subject to the strictest labor laws.
In addition to raising due process concerns because it is unreasonably short, the truncated
comment period increases the likelihood that any changes later made to the CVRP to
implement the certification procedures may have unintended consequences for ZEV
manufacturing and deployment in California and for achieving the State’s ZEV and climate
goals.
The rushed comment period not only is inadequate, it is unnecessary. CARB typically
provides at least a 30-day public comment period for matters that raise complex policy and
legal issues. The truncated comment period hinders the ability of Tesla and other
manufacturers that potentially would be subject to certification procedures, as well as other
stakeholders, to fully review and meaningfully respond to all aspects of this proposal.
Therefore, Tesla respectfully requests that the comment period be extended to at least 14
business days, through June 13, 2018. In submitting these comments, Tesla specifically
reserves its rights to (a) challenge the comment period as unreasonable and a violation of
due process, and (b) submit additional comments on this version of the Concept Paper.
Legislation Requiring Development of Procedures for Certifying Manufacturers
As your agencies develop procedures for certifying manufacturers of vehicles included in the
CVRP as being “fair and responsible in the treatment of their workers,” it is important to
review why the certification procedures provision in AB 134 was included at the end of the
2017 legislative session. The relevant language, even though it lacked definitions of key
terms such as “fair” and “responsible,” was amended into the bill on September 11, 2017,
and the Legislature passed the amended bill on September 15, 2017, the same day it
adjourned. Neither a labor certification concept for CVRP nor the language requiring
development of certification procedures was considered by the Legislature, let alone
analyzed or heard in any committee, prior to September 12, 2017.
The legislative history of AB 134 makes clear that the relevant provision specifically targeted
Tesla, and other stakeholders have noted the legislative intent of the AB 134 language. For
example, the Auto Alliance wrote in April 18, 2018 correspondence that “[a]s was widely
reported in the press after AB 134 was passed, the ‘fair and responsible treatment’
provision discussed herein was included to address perceived labor practice concerns
involving one automaker’s manufacturing plant in Fremont, California.” The Auto Alliance
cited media reports that the certification procedures provision are a “direct shot at Tesla”
and a “union-friendly provision” inserted to “inject the state into an increasingly
acrimonious union organizing campaign at automaker Tesla’s Fremont plant.”
Given the legislative history of AB 134 strongly indicates that the relevant provision was
included specifically to target Tesla because the company is the subject of an organizing
campaign by the United Auto Workers, the legal standards discussed below must be
respected in the development of the procedures. Specifically, the State cannot target a
single manufacturer under the guise of creating a labor standard and its ability to regulate

3

 labor issues related to the “fair and responsible” treatment of employees is circumscribed
due to federal preemption.
As the only automaker of CVRP-eligible vehicles that has manufacturing operations in
California, Tesla has been concerned that certification procedures will not be applied
consistently to companies or facilities that manufacture CVRP-eligible vehicles in
jurisdictions outside of California where existing labor standards are less robust than those
in California. The draft certification procedures confirm those concerns.
Tesla in California
Founded in 2003, Tesla is one of the largest manufacturing employers in California and the
first successful American automotive startup in more than 50 years. Tesla has produced
more than 300,000 cars at our Fremont factory, where all Tesla cars are assembled, and
production of our zero-emission electric vehicles is set to increase dramatically in the years
ahead. Tesla’s electric vehicles have prevented the release of 2.5 million tons of polluting
greenhouse gas emissions. We could not do this without our dedicated and passionate
employees.
In California, Tesla has more than 20,000 employees with major employment centers in
Fremont, Hawthorne, Lathrop, and Palo Alto, and we are proud to employ many workers
who previously were employed in Fremont by the former New United Motor
Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI), which was operated by GM and Toyota before they shuttered
the factory. We have a physical presence and jobs across California with more than 150
showrooms, service centers, warehouses, Superchargers, and other facilities.
In addition to its status as one of the largest manufacturing employer in the state with
20,000 employees, Tesla also supports an additional 31,000 jobs in the California. A recent
report entitled “The Economic Contribution of Tesla in California” finds that Tesla’s
economic impact in the state goes far beyond 51,000 jobs and includes billions of dollars of
direct investment in the state economy annually – more than $4 billion in 2017 alone. (See
https://ihsmarkit.com/research-analysis/the-economic-footprint-of-tesla-in-california.html)
Tesla has tremendous pride in its workforce and provides market-competitive pay and
benefits. The company cares deeply about doing the right thing and makes extraordinary
efforts to ensure that its workers are treated not just fairly, but with their well-being in
mind.
Unlike any other company in the automotive industry, every Tesla employee, including
every manufacturing employee, is an owner of the company. This is an important and
particularly rewarding part of every employee’s compensation package, as Tesla’s value has
increased more than ten-fold in the last five years. Specifically, every employee is awarded
Tesla shares upon hire, regardless of level, and employees have the opportunity to receive
additional shares each year based on their performance. Employees are also eligible to buy
additional stock at a discount through the Employee Stock Purchase Program. No other
company that manufactures vehicles included in the CVRP provides these kinds of equity
benefits. Even beyond equity, Tesla’s average starting hourly pay rate for manufacturing

4

 employees is higher than the average starting hourly rate for employees at Ford, GM, and
Fiat-Chrysler. We review pay rates every six months, and we adjust them periodically to
ensure that we are competitive with the marketplace.
Tesla’s benefit plans benchmark to the highly competitive Silicon Valley, and Tesla offers a
variety of comprehensive medical plans, including four free health care plans at no cost to
the employee. Manufacturing employees have opportunities to quickly advance based on
their performance, and significant numbers of employees are promoted each year.
Tesla’s California workforce is diverse—more than 50 percent of our California employees
identify themselves as non-white. In addition, we have sponsored Employee Resource
Groups for underrepresented employees that act as a resource to leadership regarding
employee issues, ideas, and policies and promote a company culture of inclusion, respect,
and support for everyone. Tesla also is a top employer of military veterans in the state, with
active programs hiring from each branch of the armed services, such as the California
National Guard’s Work for Warriors. With over 700 veteran employees in California, we are
proud to be one of the largest veteran employers in the state.
We strive to be a safe, fair, and just company as outlined in Tesla’s Code of Business
Conduct and Ethics. Employees can talk directly with their manager about a violation of this
code or submit workplace concerns anonymously through our toll free 24-7 Integrity
Hotline.
Safety is a core value at Tesla and part of how we do business. As a value driven company,
our goal is to have the safest factories and workplaces in the auto industry. We work to
create a culture of safety by building a foundation with engaged workers, rules, training,
standards, and accountability. Each department has a Safety Team that meets monthly to
increase safety awareness, engage our teams, and recommend improvements.
As we have increased production at our Fremont factory, our safety incident rates continue
to trend down. By the traditional workplace safety metric of Total Recordable Incident Rate
(TRIR), our 2017 rate at the Fremont factory improved significantly from 2016 and is
approximately at industry average, even though Tesla started building its own cars in
volume just over 5 years ago. That’s not good enough for Tesla, though, and we’re on a
short path toward safety that is far better than industry average. Moreover, our company is
achieving a safer work culture by incorporating and focusing more on progressive safety
measures such as leading indicators and not solely focusing on lagging indicators such as
TRIR. As we continue to improve, it is worth noting that safety at the Fremont factory is
already significantly better than when it was operated as NUMMI before shutting down in
2010, as measured by TRIR. Indeed, Tesla’s 2017 incident rate is half what it was during the
final years of NUMMI. In the 2000s, NUMMI’s incident rate was worse than industry average
in every single year, and on average in those years, it was 33% worse.
To be sure, Tesla is not perfect – no company is. But any objective analysis of our workplace,
as opposed to the selective use of unrepresentative anecdotes in a company of almost
40,000 employees globally, demonstrates we are a leader in the workplace. There should be

5

 absolutely no question that we care deeply about the well-being of our employees and that
we try our hardest to do the right thing.
Development of Certification Procedures
The AB 134 provision directs CARB to work with LWDA to “develop procedures for certifying
manufacturers of vehicles.” While AB 134 also states that it is the intention of the
Legislature to use these procedures to have the Labor Secretary “certify” manufacturers “as
fair and responsible in the treatment of their workers before their vehicles are included in
any rebate program funded with state funds” starting with fiscal year 2018-19, it does not
authorize the agencies to impose a manufacturer certification requirement in the CVRP, nor
does it authorize the implementation of any certification procedures.
The Concept Paper correctly acknowledges that “the potential procedures could inform
further legislative direction and authority,” and that “these conceptual procedures could
inform further legislative direction and authority needed to move ahead with the
development of the two-phase process.” In short, certification procedures cannot be
implemented without further action by the Legislature.
We also note that the Legislature required development of “procedures” for certifying
manufacturers; it did not require development of any “standard” governing what
constitutes “fair and responsible” treatment of workers. Under well-established rules of
statutory construction, to determine legislative intent courts “look first to the words of the
statute, giving the language its usual, ordinary meaning.” (Hunt v. Superior Court (1999) 21
Cal.4th 984, 1000.) If the language is not ambiguous, courts “presume the Legislature meant
what it said, and the plain meaning of the statute governs.” (Id. [internal citations omitted].)
Here, “procedures” means a series of steps followed in a regular definite order and is
distinct from creating a new standard by which to assess a manufacturer’s treatment of its
workers.
Procedures Based on Locally Applicable Labor Requirements Are Fundamentally Flawed
The draft procedures would establish a two-phase certification process for manufacturers of
CVRP-eligible vehicles that would apply to each manufacturing plant where CVRP-eligible
vehicles are built. The relevant language in AB 134 plainly applies to all vehicle
manufacturers whose customers benefit from CVRP rebates, regardless of where the
vehicles are manufactured. Therefore, it is appropriate that certification procedures apply
to all manufacturing plants where CVRP-eligible vehicles are built, regardless of geographic
location.
The draft procedures for both phases include an attestation by the manufacturer,
submission of specified documentation about labor-related practices, and agreement to
fully cooperate in an agency investigation related to the manufacturer’s application that
could include access to records, employees, and the facility premises.
The manufacturer must attest that for each plant where it builds CVRP-eligible vehicles, the
manufacturer “complies with all applicable local, state, and national laws and treaties
concerning wages, workplace safety, rights to association and assembly, and
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 nondiscrimination standards.” Certifying manufacturers based on attestation of compliance
with locally applicable laws and treaties is fundamentally flawed and would lead to absurd
results that effectively treat the customers of companies who choose to operate in
California the worst even though they are the companies who are subject to the strongest
labor standards. This approach also will disincentivize any manufacturer making CVRPeligible vehicles from establishing manufacturing operations for those vehicles in California.
It is paramount that certification procedures constitute a fair and level playing field for instate, out-of-state, and out-of-country manufacturing operations. In other words, the same
procedures and the same effective standard for certifying manufacturers must consistently
apply industry-wide to all companies with vehicles included in the CVRP regardless of where
their manufacturing operations are located.
This “apples-to-apples” approach is required by basic notions of fairness, and it is
particularly critical because working conditions in the auto industry in California are far
better than they are outside of the state because of California’s much more stringent labor
standards concerning wages, workplace safety, and nondiscrimination. Companies with
manufacturing operations in California already are subject to the strongest laws to ensure
their employees in California are treated fairly.
In contrast to the proposed CVRP certification procedures, California’s tailpipe emission
standards embody this “apples to apples” approach. The state has not created one set of
tailpipe emission rules that apply to California vehicle manufacturers and a separate set of
rules that apply to non-California vehicle manufacturers; rather, the state insists that all
vehicle manufacturers meet the same tailpipe emission requirements. Similarly, any CVRP
certification procedures must be applied consistently and equally regardless of where a
vehicle is manufactured, in a way that does not incentivize locating manufacturing plants
outside of California and does not produce results that will confuse and frustrate California
consumers who are eligible for CVRP.
It would be wrong to effectively penalize the customers of one automaker whose
manufacturing employees benefit from California’s rigorous labor standards and fail to
address different working conditions at manufacturing plants in other jurisdictions with
lesser labor standards. Other than Tesla vehicles, all of which are built in California, all of the
other 40+ CVRP-eligible vehicles are built in other states, such as Michigan and Tennessee,
or other countries, such as Japan, Germany, and Mexico. As other automakers bring more
ZEV vehicles to market, it is only a matter of time before CVRP-eligible vehicles are built in
additional countries with significantly lesser labor standards, like China and India. Yet, no
manufacturer besides Tesla currently plans to build clean cars at scale in California.
Under the draft certification procedures, on one hand the customers of a California
manufacturer could be penalized because that manufacturer inadvertently made a nonsubstantive mistake on its paystubs. On the other hand, an out-of-country or out-of-state
manufacturer could obtain CVRP certification by complying with far less rigorous workplace
safety requirements, lesser wage requirements, or locally applicable laws that, by
California’s standards, would allow sub-standard conditions or that would permit
discriminatory conduct.

7

 This flaw in focusing on locally applicable requirements is highlighted by the State of
California’s prohibition on requiring its employees to engage in state-funded or statesponsored travel to certain states with laws that California perceives to support or finance
“discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.” (Govt. Code, §
11139.8, subd. (a)(5).) The list of states that currently are subject to the travel ban includes
Tennessee, where a CVRP-eligible vehicle is made.
For certification procedures to be equitable and meaningful, it is critical that the procedures
establish a fair and level playing field for in-state, out-of-state, and out-of-country
manufacturing operations. This cannot be accomplished by focusing on locally applicable
labor laws.
Procedures Must Satisfy Applicable Legal Standards
For the reasons discussed above, the procedures must respect applicable legal standards.
First, Tesla believes that the state’s ability to regulate labor issues related to the “fair and
responsible” treatment of employees is circumscribed due to federal preemption. The
inclusion of locally applicable laws concerning “rights to association and assembly” in the
attestation crosses into NLRA jurisdiction that is preempted. This is because procedures for
certifying manufacturers created by the state may not consider allegations of unfair labor
practices or matters that could arguably constitute unfair labor practices under the National
Labor Relations Act (NLRA). All such matters are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). (San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon (1959)
359 U.S. 236, 245; Wisconsin Dept. of Industry v. Gould Inc. (1986) 475 U.S. 282, 286.)
Federal preemption applies not only when the state expressly acts as a regulator, but when
the state is offering funds – as it is here, in the form of rebates provided directly to
consumers. As the Concept Paper notes, “CVRP is a voluntary incentive program, both for
automobile manufacturers and consumers.” Creating procedures that intrude into areas of
federal preemption not only would be impermissible, it would constitute a federal civil
rights violation. (Golden State Transit Corp. v. Los Angeles (1989) 493 U.S. 103, 110.)
Second, in developing procedures for certifying manufacturers, the State may not put “their
thumb on the scale” with respect to labor matters that the Congress “intended to remain
unregulated and left to be controlled by the free play of economic forces.” (Machinists v.
Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (1976) 427 U.S. 132, 140.) The fact that the
CVRP is an incentive program, rather than outright regulation, does not render this principle
inapplicable. (Chamber of Commerce of U.S. v. Brown (2008) 554 U.S. 60, 70-71; Michigan
Bldg. & Const. Trades Council v. Snyder (6th Cir. 2013) 729 F.3d 572, 577-78; Associated
Builders & Contractors Inc. New Jersey Chapter v. City of Jersey City, New Jersey (3d Cir.
2016) 836 F.3d 412, 818.)
While the state may regulate whether employers observe generally applicable labor
standards, it may not adopt laws or policies designed to favor or harm a particular employer
or union engaged in a labor dispute. These generally applicable labor standards are
uniformly applied industry-wide, affect union and nonunion employees equally, neither
encourage nor discourage collective bargaining, and do not technically interfere with labor-

8

 management relations. (American Hotel and Lodging Association v. City of Los Angeles
(2016) 834 F.3d 958, 963.)
These principles apply equally to both in-state and out-of-state employers. Requiring out-ofstate manufacturers wishing to participate in the CVRP to satisfy California’s labor standards
is permissible so long as the certification procedures do not impose a heavier regulatory
burden on out-of-state manufacturers compared to in-state manufactures. (S.D. Myers, Inc.
v. City and County of San Francisco (9th Cir. 2001) 253 F.3d 461, 467 [upholding San
Francisco’s equal rights ordinance requiring that out-of-state City contractors provide
certain benefits because the ordinance did not directly regulate interstate commerce, it
applied to all contractors with the City equally, and it contained no language explicitly or
implicitly targeting out-of-state entities, entities engaged in interstate commerce, or
contractors based on the nature or extent of their commercial operations].)
Third, the failure to develop draft certification procedures that apply equally to in-state and
out-of-state manufacturing facilities amplifies concerns that inclusion of the relevant
provision in AB 134 is being used as a tool to influence the UAW’s organizing effort at Tesla’s
Fremont factory. This is not just an equitable problem, it is a legal one. While a state can
legally require that manufacturers meet generally applicable labor standards, it cannot
target a single manufacturer under the guise of creating such a labor standard. In 520 S.
Michigan Ave. Assocs., Ltd. v. Shannon (7th Cir. 2008) 549 F.3d 1119, the court considered a
Machinists preemption challenge to an Illinois statute that mandated rest breaks for certain
hotel workers based upon NLRA preemption. The court in Shannon held that although the
NLRA did not preempt generally applicable labor standards imposed under state law, the
Illinois statute was not such a standard because it was not a law of general applicability. One
of the key aspects of the law that led that court to reach this conclusion was that it was
based on the location of the regulated company:
Unlike these cases, though, the Attendant Amendment is not just limited by trade—
it is also limited by location; the Attendant Amendment is a state statute that applies
only in one county in Illinois—Cook county. That fact distinguishes this case from the
series of cases cited by Appellees, including Nunn; the Attendant Amendment is not
just limited to a particular trade, profession, or job classification; it is also a state
statute limited to only one of Illinois' 102 counties.
(520 S. Michigan Ave. Assocs., Ltd. v. Shannon (7th Cir. 2008) 549 F.3d 1119, 1130-31.)
The same is true here: California’s rigorous labor standards currently apply to a single
manufacturer of vehicles in the CVRP – Tesla. Development of inappropriate procedures for
certifying manufacturers does far more than raise “legitimate concerns” that the state is
targeting Tesla in such a way that “could potentially frustrate the purpose of the NLRA, by
substituting the “‘free-play of political forces for the free-play of economic forces.’” (Fortuna
Enterprises, L.P. v. City of Los Angeles (C.D. Cal. 2008) 673 F. Supp. 2d 1000, 1011.) Indeed,
the legislative history of AB 134 leaves no doubt that the purpose of the certification
procedures provision is to uniquely harm Tesla, which has been conceded by parties who
have an interest in this issue. Therefore, at a minimum, any procedures must effectively

9

 apply the same generally applicable labor standards to all manufacturing facilities,
regardless of geographic location.
Another aspect of Shannon is also present here. The Shannon court was troubled that the
challenged law appeared to focus on a particular employer that was involved in a labor
dispute. Not only is that the case here, the legislative history of AB 134 strongly indicates
that the relevant provision specifically targeted Tesla because the company is the subject of
an organizing campaign by the UAW.
Provisional Certification Procedures: Attestation
Besides the focus on locally applicable laws, there are significant problems with various
aspects of the proposed Phase 1 “provisional certification” attestation procedures whereby
a manufacturer would be provisionally certified for an initial period of two fiscal years. The
attestation checklist in Phase 1 requires attestation of compliance with “all applicable local,
state, and national laws and treaties concerning wages, workplace safety, rights to
association and assembly, and nondiscrimination standards,” and all the manufacturer’s
“existing agreements and commitments . . . with local, state, federal, or international
agencies or other parties, that concern wages, workplace safety, rights to association and
assembly, and nondiscrimination standards.” While this seems like a self-certification
approach, there are several legal and practical difficulties.
First, inclusion of laws concerning rights to association and assembly in the scope of the
attestation appears to cover matters that could constitute unfair labor practices under the
NLRA, which are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the NLRB. (San Diego Building Trades
Council v. Garmon (1959) 359 U.S. 236, 245; Wisconsin Dept. of Industry v. Gould Inc. (1986)
475 U.S. 282, 286.) The proposed procedures do not expressly exclude matters regulated by
the NLRA, and certifying compliance with the NLRA, or NLRB regulations, orders, decisions,
or settlements is prohibited under federal preemption. (Golden State Transit Corp. v. Los
Angeles (1989) 493 U.S. 103, 110.) The attestation must be limited to certification regarding
generally applicable labor standards (i.e., conduct outside of the exclusive jurisdiction of the
NLRB). (See Fort Halifax Packing Co. v. Coyne (1987) 482 U.S. 1, 21-22.)
Second, while Tesla is fully committed to complying with all applicable laws, inevitably any
large employer in California with manufacturing operations will be subject to allegations
concerning wage and hour issues, Cal/OSHA requirements, and discrimination claims. Like
any employer, Tesla employs people in both line and supervisory ranks. Occasionally, human
beings make poor judgments. Hence, total compliance with all laws regulating workplace
conduct is a worthy but practically impossible goal for any large company in California. To
the extent that isolated violations do occur, companies should be judged by their policies
and training, not on whether there are isolated violations. For that reason, we believe a
more appropriate assessment is whether the manufacturer has policies, procedures and
resources in place at each manufacturing facility concerning wages, workplace safety, rights
to association and assembly, and nondiscrimination standards to ensure employees are
treated fairly.

10

 Third, “existing agreements and commitments . . . with . . . other parties” appears to include
confidential settlement agreements. Disclosing the nature of or certifying compliance with
such confidential settlement agreements would violate the rights of the parties subject to
those agreements.
Provisional Certification Procedures: Documentation
As part of their applications for provisional certification, manufacturers would be required
to submit 6 categories of information and documentation to the Labor Secretary for each
manufacturing facility where CVRP-eligible vehicles are built. While some categories are
limited to a manufacturer’s policy and procedures, several other supporting documentation
requirements are unworkable and legally questionable.
As a general matter, the scope of any information and documents to be provided must be
limited to the relevant time period for the certification. The draft procedures either do not
specify the time period for which records must be provided or they provide for a 5-year
disclosure time period. This is an inappropriate and unreasonably long time frame for which
to assess whether a manufacturer’s employees currently are being treated “fairly and
responsibly,” and it will be unduly burdensome for manufacturers to compile records going
back 5 years. The time period in the proposed procedures is particularly troubling because
the period for which information is sought predates the development of certification
procedures as well as the passage of AB 134. The procedures and any requirements therein
should be applied prospectively, regardless of what final procedures are established, so that
manufacturers are put on notice of what is being considered. Any documents to be provided
should be limited to the time period up to one year prior to the date a manufacturer’s CVRP
certification application is submitted. Clearly, what matters for employees is how the
workplace is now, not how it was five years ago.
The draft procedures require submission of the “manufacturer’s illness and injury
prevention program or its equivalent, if any.” The procedures should clarify that a
manufacturer is to submit the current version of their program, and that any confidential
aspects may be appropriately designated. In jurisdictions outside of California, a
manufacturer may not be required to prepare any equivalent of an illness and injury
prevention program, in which case they may submit nothing as the category is currently
designed. If this category is included, meaningful information must be provided by each
manufacturer even if they do not have an equivalent program, to avoid an inequitable
application.
The draft procedures require submission of the manufacturer’s recordable worker injury
rates, or their equivalent, during the prior 5 years. They should be revised to require
submission of this data for the previous year only, since that data is most relevant and
appropriate to help assess current workplace safety conditions. At the same time, we note
that recordable worker injury rates are not globally defined and thus manufacturing
facilities outside the United States may not record or maintain the same data. Moreover,
recordable injury rates are lagging indicators and do not necessarily indicate current safety
conditions. Again, what matters for employees is how safe the workplace is now, not how
safe it was five years ago.

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 The draft procedures require submission of the manufacturer’s policy and procedures for
reporting, investigation, and resolution of worker complaints about violation of standards
related to wages, workplace safety, rights to association and assembly, and
nondiscrimination. The procedures should clarify that a manufacturer is to submit the
current version of their policy and procedures for reporting, investigation, and resolution of
employee complaints about these issues. The plain text of AB 134 shows that the
certification procedures should address the treatment of workers employed by the clean car
manufacturer seeking certification: “develop procedures for certifying manufacturers of
vehicles . . . as being fair and responsible in the treatment of their workers.” (emphasis
added). In other words, the certification procedures concern employees of a manufacturer
and do not extend to workers in the supply chain.
The draft procedures require submission of the manufacturer’s agreements with local, state,
federal, or international agencies or other parties, that concern wages, workplace safety,
rights to association and assembly, and nondiscrimination standards. As discussed above,
this appears to include confidential settlement agreements, including on garden variety
wage and hour issues. Disclosing the nature of or certifying compliance with such
confidential settlement agreements would violate the rights of the parties subject to those
agreements, including the manufacturer. The procedures should clarify that this category
concerns current agreements with government entities and that confidential information
will be protected from disclosure.
The draft procedures require submission of the manufacturer’s policies in addition to any
such agreements, with respect to its direct suppliers’ compliance with all applicable local,
state and national laws and treaties concerning wages, workplace safety, rights to
association and assembly, and nondiscrimination standards. The procedures should clarify
that this category concerns the manufacturer’s current policy or policies.
Finally, the draft procedures require a list of any (a) formal citation or charges by a
government agency, (b) final orders, decisions, or awards of back pay, or their equivalent,
and (c) prosecutor-filed criminal charges, within the past 5 years, related to a violation of
laws related to wages, workplace safety, rights to association and assembly, and
nondiscrimination standards. There are multiple objectionable aspects to this sixth category.
The sixth category is so broad that it includes citations, charges, final orders, decisions, or
awards issued by the NLRB, and therefore infringes on the federally preempted jurisdiction
of the NLRB. If the state were to use this information to determine if a manufacturer treats
it workers fairly and responsibility for purposes of CVRP certification, it would be unlawfully
imposing an additional sanction on manufacturers that have allegedly violated the NLRA.
(See Wisconsin Dept. of Industry, Labor and Human Relations v. Gould Inc. (1986) 475 U.S.
282, 287.) The U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that states are prohibited from
imposing supplemental remedies or sanctions on federal labor law violators, or on conduct
expressly or arguably prohibited by the NLRA, because such state statutes or programs
“incrementally diminish[] the [National Labor Relations] Board’s control over enforcement
of the NLRA and thus further detracts from the “integrated scheme of regulation” created
by Congress. (Id. at 288-89.)

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 The sixth category must exclude citations, charges, and allegations and include only final
decisions by adjudicatory bodies or courts of law. Basing CVRP certification decisions on
mere allegations, citations, or charges that are not final adjudications would infringe upon
the manufacturer’s most fundamental due process rights. (Coffin v. U.S. (1895) 156 U.S. 432,
452 [“The law presumes that persons charged with crime are innocent until they are proven,
by competent evidence, to be guilty”].) Consideration of allegations, citations, or charges
also will incentivize their filing in the context of an organizing campaign.
This category exacerbates the greatly tilted playing field for in-state, out-of-state, and outof-country manufacturing operations. Not only do jurisdictions outside of California not
have the same locally applicable requirements, they do not have the same levels of
enforcement of those requirements. Consideration of the information reflected in the sixth
category is likely to penalize the customers of companies that locate their manufacturing
facilities in California. Finally, any assessment of the information in this category should be
limited to the most recent year.
Provisional Certification Procedures: Access and Public Posting
The draft procedures for provisional certification require that the manufacturer “agree to
cooperate fully in providing reasonable access to the manufacturer’s records, documents,
agents or employees, or premises if reasonably required by the Secretary of Labor to
determine the manufacturer’s compliance with these requirements.” This requirement
raises serious legal and practical issues.
First, a core issue is the conditions under which the Secretary of Labor would have a
legitimate reason to determine compliance after an attestation under penalty of perjury
was received. The other requirements for provisional certification require the manufacturer
to provide various types of information and documents. Either that information will be
provided and the application is complete, in which case provisional certification should
occur, additional information may be requested, or the information will not be provided and
the application is incomplete. It is unclear why a manufacturer should be required to
provide further access to records, documents, agents or employees, or premises under
these circumstances.
Second, allowing the Labor Secretary to intervene in employer-employee relations runs the
risk of illegally influencing labor matters that Congress “intended to remain unregulated and
left to be controlled by the free play of economic forces.” (Machinists v. Wisconsin
Employment Relations Commission (1976) 427 U.S. 132, 140.) While the state may regulate
whether employers observe generally applicable labor standards, it may not adopt laws or
policies designed to favor or harm a particular employer or union engaged in a labor
dispute. (American Hotel and Lodging Association v. City of Los Angeles (2016) 834 F.3d 958,
963.)
Third, the proposed procedures do not define which parties may be given “reasonable
access” to the manufacturer’s records, employees, and premises, nor do the procedures
limit such access to the Labor Secretary. To avoid infringing on privacy rights and unlawfully
influencing the labor relations of a manufacturer, the proposed procedures must define and

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 restrict “reasonable access” to the Labor Secretary and his staff, access procedures, and a
right to appeal access orders issued by the Labor Secretary, if any such access is included in
final procedures.
Fourth, as a practical matter the Labor Secretary is unlikely to expend state resources to
utilize this access provision to meet with employees of or visit the premises of
manufacturing facilities that are outside California, let alone ones that may be located
outside of the country. Manufacturing facilities in California are most likely to be the subject
of this requirement, which again would effectively penalize the customers of Tesla because
Tesla located its factory in California.
The draft procedures also provide that manufacturer applications, including supporting
documentation, will be made publicly available and posted on the LWDA website. This
underscores the significant privacy concerns for manufacturers and employees. For
example, documentation may include confidential business information and in California
EEOC and DFEH complaint files are not open to the public while charges are pending.
Employees also have significant privacy rights in workers’ compensation and other
proceedings. While it may not be the intent of this approach, requiring public disclosure of
such matters not only violates a slew of federal and state regulations, but, paradoxically,
would deter many employee complaints.
Provisional Certification Procedures: Due Process
Without subjecting the draft certification procedures to the requirements of the California
Administrative Procedure Act, the proposal for provisional certification procedures lacks
transparency and due process safeguards. Unlike the proposal for full certification
procedures, it does not even “establish a formal process, including regulations and guideline
changes as necessary, for manufacturers to apply.” Moreover, the certification procedures
do not include a process by which necessary changes to any regulations and guidelines may
be made based on feedback from stakeholders and the participating manufacturers.
Due process is essential to the integrity of any decertification procedures. At a minimum,
any consideration of denying a manufacturer’s application for provisional certification
should be subject to a duly noticed formal hearing before an administrative body, a formal
administrative appeal, and judicial review. The manufacturer must have a rebuttal
opportunity to challenge the grounds for proposed denial of certification by presenting
evidence and testimony before a fair and impartial quasi-judicial body, in addition to those
rights guaranteed by California’s Administrative Adjudication Bill of Rights. (See Gov. Code, §
11425.10.) A proposed denial of certification should not take effect until after the appeal
process is completed.
The opportunities for manufacturers in the CVRP to participate in the certification
development process have been limited, which enhances the likelihood that the proposed
procedures will be judicially invalidated on due process or federal preemption grounds or
result in other unintended consequences for ZEV deployment in California.

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 Full Certification Procedures
The Phase 2 “full certification” draft procedures are significantly less developed than the
Phase 1 “provisional certification” draft procedures, but they are just as flawed because
“the process for evaluating the annual recertification submittal would be similar where
appropriate to the process described for provisional certification” and the criteria “would
likely include a requirement that the manufacturer complies” with all locally applicable labor
laws as described in the “provisional certification” draft procedures. Tesla incorporates by
reference all of the comments above that concern the draft procedures for provisional
certification, including those regarding due process.
As an initial matter, it is unclear why different “full certification” procedures are necessary.
In addition to the flawed focus on locally applicable laws, establishing an annual
recertification process starting with fiscal year 2020-21 will be unduly burdensome to
participating manufacturers and divert limited state resources from other matters. At most,
a recertification process should be conducted every two years, similar to the time period for
a provisional certification.
The full certification draft procedures state that “LWDA would establish a formal process to
receive and investigate complaints from the public relating to the full certification of a
manufacturer.” Subjecting participating manufacturers to investigations of “complaints from
the public” appears to allow unlimited scrutiny of manufacturers by people who have no
direct connection to the manufacturer or its facilities where CVRP-eligible vehicles are
made, and an invitation for third parties to generate allegations in order to drive
investigations of a particular manufacturer. This is inappropriate, lacks due process
safeguards, and goes well beyond the scope of anything contemplated by a plain reading of
AB 134, which is focused on whether workers are treated fairly and responsibly.
Conclusion
For all these reasons, Tesla objects to the draft certification procedures in the Concept
Paper as inequitable, fundamentally flawed, and in violation of numerous legal standards.
At a minimum, any procedures must be applied consistently to all companies that
manufacture CVRP-eligible vehicles, including those that have manufacturing facilities
located outside of California in jurisdictions with lesser labor standards. We believe a
workable self-certification framework can be developed that respects applicable legal
requirements if the comments discussed above are fully addressed, and we reserve the right
to submit further comments on this issue.
Unlike its competitors, Tesla has chosen to locate in California and, in doing so, to be subject
to and comply with the most stringent labor standards in the country. We are proud to be a
California company with all that it entails. The existing state laws, as well as federal laws,
already require fair and responsible treatment of employees; they need no supplement.
What these draft procedures fail to do is ensure that procedures are consistently applied, so
that all companies whose customers are eligible for CVRP incentives – including those with
manufacturing facilities located outside California - are worthy of participating in a program
funded by California taxpayers’ dollars.

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 The CVRP is a consumer rebate program, and consumers will expect that any certification
procedures are applied consistently and equitably. Implementation of these draft
procedures, if the Legislature provides authority necessary to do so, would compromise the
continued effective administration of the CVRP, confuse consumers who are interested in
driving a CVRP-eligible clean car, and impede progress toward achieving the goal of 5 million
ZEVs by 2030.
We understand from the Concept Paper that CARB and LWDA staff will consider the public
comments on this draft and provide a revised Concept Paper for further consideration. We
urge staff to address the issues raised in these comments, and to provide a meaningful and
adequate opportunity for public comment on the revised Concept Paper when it is released.
Respectfully,

Sanjay Ranchod
Director and Counsel
Business Development and Policy

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