Banned in California

Hacker News · Feb 25, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Banned inCalifornia A visual guide to the industrial processes you can no longer permit in the state of California — and the grandfathered facilities that still can. "If I wanted to build a new car factory, I literally couldn't paint the cars." Effectively impossible Extremely difficult Restricted / heavily regulated Every component in your pocket required an industrial process that's nearly impossible to permit in California today. Your smartphone contains materials processed through semiconductor fabrication, chemical etching, metal anodizing, glass tempering, and electroplating — none of which you could start a new facility for in California without years of litigation. Scroll to explore Impossible Semiconductor Fabrication (7nm/5nm) The main processor requires ultra-clean rooms, toxic gases (arsine, phosphine), and chemical etching. No new fabs have been built in CA in over a decade. Intel, TSMC, and Samsung all build elsewhere. Impossible Aluminum Anodizing & CNC Machining The aluminum frame is anodized using sulfuric acid baths, generating hazardous waste. Anodizing facilities face extreme permitting hurdles for wastewater and air emissions. Impossible Lithium-Ion Cell Manufacturing Battery cells require electrode coating with toxic solvents (NMP), electrolyte handling, and formation cycling. This is exactly why Tesla's Gigafactory went to Reno. Extremely Difficult PCB Etching & Component Soldering Printed circuit boards are etched with ferric chloride or ammonium persulfate. Soldering uses flux chemicals. These wet chemical processes face stringent air quality and wastewater permits. Impossible Optical Lens Coating & Sensor Fab Camera lenses need vacuum deposition coatings, and image sensors are semiconductor devices. Both require processes identical to chip fabrication. Extremely Difficult Glass Tempering & Chemical Strengthening Gorilla Glass-style displays need ion-exchange chemical baths at 400°C+. The furnaces and chemical handling require extensive permitting. Extremely Difficult RF Component Fab & Gold Plating Wireless antennas and RF components require electroplating with gold, copper, and other metals. Electroplating operations generate heavy metal waste and cyanide compounds. Building an EV requires metal forging, battery manufacturing, painting, and chip fabrication — all processes that drove Tesla to build in Nevada and Texas. Tesla's Fremont factory was the former NUMMI plant (GM/Toyota, operating since 1962). It was grandfathered in. When Tesla needed to expand battery production, they built the Gigafactory in Reno, Nevada — not California — because the permitting for battery cell manufacturing was effectively impossible. The Cybertruck factory went to Austin, Texas. Scroll to explore Impossible Automotive Paint Shop A modern auto paint shop emits volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during primer, base coat, and clear coat application. The Bay Area AQMD makes permitting a new paint shop nearly impossible. This is THE classic example of what you can't do in CA. Impossible Lithium-Ion Cell Manufacturing Cell manufacturing uses NMP solvent for electrode coating, handles flammable electrolytes, and requires formation cycling that generates heat and gases. Tesla chose Reno for the Gigafactory specifically because of California's permitting environment. Impossible Metal Stamping, Forging & Die Casting Tesla's "Giga Press" mega-casting machines melt and inject aluminum at extreme temperatures. Foundry operations generate metal fumes, require massive energy, and face severe air quality restrictions in CA. Impossible SiC/GaN Power Semiconductor Fab Power electronics for EVs use silicon carbide chips that require the same fabrication infrastructure as CPUs — clean rooms, toxic gases, acid etching, and enormous water consumption. Extremely Difficult Copper Winding & Magnet Production Electric motors need precision-wound copper coils and rare earth permanent magnets. Magnet production involves processing neodymium and other rare earths with hydrochloric acid. Extremely Difficult Float Glass Manufacturing Automotive glass starts as float glass produced in continuous furnaces at 1500°C+, then tempered and laminated with chemical treatments. These furnaces run 24/7 for years. Extremely Difficult Copper Drawing & Connector Plating A modern EV contains miles of copper wiring with PVC insulation (extrusion) and gold or tin-plated connectors (electroplating). Both processes face heavy environmental regulation. Extremely Difficult Iron Casting & Brake Manufacturing Brake rotors are cast iron, produced in foundries. Brake pads are sintered metallic compounds. Foundry operations are among the most difficult to permit in California. Restricted Rubber Vulcanization Tire manufacturing involves sulfur vulcanization of rubber and steel belt production. Chemical emissions from vulcanization face strict regulation. Building a warship requires every banned process at massive scale — and there's exactly one yard on the West Coast that can do it. General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego is one of only a handful of shipyards in the entire United States capable of building large naval vessels. It has been operating since 1960 and is grandfathered in. If it closed, you could not build a replacement shipyard in California — the steel work, welding, painting, and heavy metal fabrication would never get permitted today. Scroll to explore Impossible Steel Plate Rolling & Shipyard Welding Destroyer hulls use HY-80/HY-100 high-yield steel. Rolling this steel and welding it into hull sections produces massive metal fumes, requires pre-heating, and generates tons of welding waste. Impossible Superalloy Casting & Turbine Blade Forging The LM2500 gas turbines use nickel superalloy turbine blades grown as single crystals at 2500°F. This is aerospace-grade metallurgy that requires vacuum furnaces and specialized foundries. Impossible Phased Array Antenna Manufacturing The AEGIS SPY-1 radar uses thousands of gallium arsenide transmit/receive modules. GaAs semiconductor fabrication is as complex as silicon chip manufacturing, with additional toxicity concerns. Impossible Missile Canister Fabrication The Mk 41 Vertical Launch System requires precision-welded steel and aluminum canisters, composite materials for blast protection, and specialized explosive-resistant manufacturing. Impossible Gun Barrel Forging & Rifling The Mk 45 5-inch gun barrel is forged from ordnance-grade steel, chrome-lined internally, and precision-rifled. Barrel forging requires enormous presses and chromium plating baths. Impossible Propeller Casting & Shaft Forging Naval propellers are cast from nickel-aluminum-bronze alloy in specialized foundries. Propulsion shafts are forged from high-strength steel. Both require foundry operations at enormous scale. Extremely Difficult Power Generation Equipment Ships need generators, massive copper bus bars, transformers, and switchgear — all manufactured through processes involving copper refining, transformer oil, and heavy metalwork. Extremely Difficult RF Electronics & Antenna Fab Communications equipment requires PCB etching, waveguide machining from aluminum/brass, and connector gold plating. Every antenna and radio aboard is an exercise in banned processes. Extremely Difficult Military-Grade Electronics The Combat Information Center is packed with ruggedized computers, displays, and networking equipment requiring conformal coating, specialized soldering, and hardened semiconductor devices. Impossible Anti-Fouling & Radar-Absorbing Coatings Hull coatings include toxic anti-fouling paint and specialized radar-absorbing materials. Applying these at shipyard scale generates massive emissions. These facilities still operate because they were established before current regulations. If any of them closed, they could not reopen under the same permits.