Tesla Fined $275,000 Over Emissions Regulations by EPA

Sometimes, technology moves faster than rules and regulations. For instance, in some parts of Kansas, shops must provide water troughs for horses. A more recently inanity is the requirement that electric vehicles receive an emissions "Certificate of Conformity" from the EPA to comply with the "Clean Air Act." And, while Kansan storekeepers have long been excused from abiding by the obviously obsolete ordinance, such is not the case for America's best known electric car maker, Tesla Motors.

In its Securities and Exchange Commission 10-Q filing for the quarter ending on the 30th of June, Tesla noted that expenses may be incurred from complying (or, in this case, not complying) with the myriad regulations that govern the activity of providing automobiles for sale to the public. As an example of such, it mentions being found in contravention of the requirement to have the aforementioned certificate for the vast majority of 2009. It had the necessary document in 2008. As a result, it and the EPA:

...entered into an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Audit Policy Determination in which we agreed to pay a civil administrative penalty in the sum of $275,000...

Ouch.

While we can only imagine what better things Tesla might do with that kind of cash – employ several Californians for a year, give a Roadster Sport 2.5 to a deserving blogger or two – the fact is that this requirement still stands as a testament to the absolute ludicrousness of the inflexibility ingrained in some of our regulatory bodies. Good grief.