All the red tape can be preempted by statute.
I don't foresee any problems with actual environmentalist but with nimbyist using environmentalism as pre-text.
Or the nutjobs planting anti-Tesla flyers in the Bay Area. Certain groups that have an irrational hatred for BEVs using environmental reports as pre-text for filing delaying lawsuits.
Again this can be preempted by law. When Staples Center basketball-hockey Arena was built in Los Angeles the developers knew they could be trapped in red tape for decades and the California legislature passed a law requiring any lawsuits to prevent its building to be filled withing one year and arbitrators to render binding judgement within 2 years. They can pass similar laws for Tesla with an even faster process if the legislature had the votes to do so.
Thanks. I have always felt (yep, probably wrongly so) that California was the suit capital of the US and that some person/group could tie up a battery factory build for years.