As parents, educators, and community members of Lila Bringhurst Elementary School and the surrounding Fremont neighborhood, we are calling on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) to immediately halt, correct, and re-notice the public comment process for Tesla’s Application Nos. 726496 and 751217 (located at 45500 Fremont Boulevard).

The current public notification process falls short of providing full transparency regarding air quality and health impacts near our children's school. We demand that BAAQMD hold Tesla and its permitting evaluations to the highest standard of accountability.

Why This Matters
1. Misleading Project Description and Omitted Emission Increases
California Health and Safety Code Section 42301.6(a) requires public notices to "fully describe" any proposed project near a school. The current notice highlights that selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems "will abate emissions," yet omits critical details regarding total permitted output.

Based on the Engineering Evaluation allowing 4.85 lb/hr of total suspended particulates operating 24/7, permitted particulate emissions from the two furnaces appear to rise from ~1.55 tons/year to ~21.2 tons/year—roughly a 13-fold increase. These particulates may contain toxic metals including arsenic, beryllium, and cadmium. Highlighting abatement while omitting significant increases in permitted particulate capacity does not fulfill the legal requirement of a full description.

2. Incomplete Engineering Evaluation
Unlike previous public evaluations for this facility (such as Application No. 31592 in 2022), the current evaluation lacks essential baseline comparisons:

• No clear before-and-after operational comparison (e.g., throughput increases).
• Missing Regulation 6, Rule 1 particulate calculations and plant cumulative increase analyses.
• Unexplained equipment changes: The evaluation claims new catalytic ceramic filters replace the function of Hi-Temp ASHRAE particulate filters. Because catalytic filters primarily target NOx, rather than particulates, the technical basis for removing particulate-specific filtration without evaluating keeping both remains unaddressed.

3. Unexplained Redactions and Missing Public Data  

• Key figures throughout the evaluation are redacted without justification, despite similar metrics being public in past filings.
• The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) is referenced ("See HRA Report for details") but was not provided attached for public review.
• Basic public details contain errors, including listing the school's address on "Wilson Road" instead of Wisdom Road.

4. Deficient Notice Distribution to School Families

Under CA Health and Safety Code Section 42301.6(b), the Air Pollution Control Officer must properly distribute or mail public notices directly to parents and guardians. For Lila Bringhurst Elementary, the notice was distributed primarily via an opt-in ParentSquare post, with translated versions placed behind a login screen and two English-only intermediate pages. As a result, many impacted families were never properly informed.

We respectfully request that the Bay Area Air Quality Management District take the following actions:

1. Re-Notice the Project: Address all public comments submitted during this period, then issue a new notice that explicitly states all changes in permitted emissions.
2. Revise and Complete the Engineering Evaluation: Provide an unbiased evaluation featuring a clear before/after comparison of permitted emissions, standard Regulation 6-1 and cumulative-increase analyses, and the full attached Health Risk Assessment (HRA).
3. Reassign Project Oversight: Assign a different project manager to conduct the re-evaluation and public re-noticing.
4. Extend the Comment Window: Grant an extended 120-day public comment period upon issuing the revised notice.
5. Pause Application Processing: Suspend processing on Application Nos. 726496 and 751217 until all outstanding notices of violation for Tesla at this facility are resolved.
6. Ensure Multilingual Accessibility: Publish all notices, engineering evaluations, and HRAs in English, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Hindi, and Arabic using certified professional translations.
7. Provide Redaction Transparency: Provide a clear legal and factual basis for every redaction in accordance with standard public record practices.
8. Release Public Records: Under the California Public Records Act (CPRA), release all internal BAAQMD and BAAQMD–Tesla correspondence regarding notice drafting, distribution, and evaluation formatting, posting them publicly prior to the second comment period.
9. Immediate Deadline Extension: Extend the current comment deadline immediately, given the unavailability of the designated contact during the final portion of the comment period.

Sign This Petition

By signing below, you join parents, residents, and community members in urging BAAQMD to protect public health, ensure full transparency, and give our community the clear answers and proper notice required by law