IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

Transcription

1 USCA Case # Document # Filed: 12/08/2015 Page 809 of 1227 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT State of West Virginia, et al. Petitioners, v. Case No (and consolidated cases United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al. Respondents. DECLARATION OF TARENCE RAY I, Tarence Ray, declare as follows: 1. I am a field coordinator at Appalachian Voices, based in Eastern Kentucky, where I work with residents of Central Appalachia who have been affected by the environmental impacts of surface mining and mountaintop removal coal mining. I conduct water monitoring around the homes and streams of communities that are near strip mines. I also work to connect residents with the proper state regulatory agencies, and elevate their voices in the regional and national media when agencies fail to provide proper assistance or recourse. Many residents live below the poverty line, and therefore do not have access to affordable legal resources, and part of my job is helping them a identify their specific problem and b connect them with available legal resources. 2. Appalachian Voices is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting central and southern Appalachia. Appalachian Voices works to end mountaintop B531

2 USCA Case # Document # Filed: 12/08/2015 Page 810 of 1227 removal coal mining; help communities in Central Appalachia transition away from coal and diversify their economies; address water quality issues and fight toxic coal ash in Appalachian communities; promote energy efficiency and clean energy to reduce carbon emissions; and oppose fracking and the expansion of natural gas infrastructure in the region. 3. I was born in Lubbock, Texas, and raised in the rural oilfields of southeastern New Mexico. My father works in the oil industry as the manager and owner of an oilfield supply company. The socio-economic similarities between my home region and the coalfields of Central Appalachia brought me to Eastern Kentucky three years ago. Prior to my work at Appalachian Voices, I worked two terms as an Americorps Volunteer in Service to America ( VISTA in Letcher County, Kentucky, focusing on water quality, economic development, mine safety, and environmental justice issues. In that position, I worked with the Appalachian Citizens Law Center, conducting outreach to miners about the federal black lung benefits program. Black lung disease, a debilitating pulmonary disorder caused by coal mine dust inhalation, is on the rise, and I witnessed first-hand how coal mining affects low-income residents in the region. I am personally familiar with the facts stated in this declaration and, if called upon, would competently testify to them. 4. The purpose of this declaration is to provide information relevant to the pending motions for stay of the Environmental Protection Agency s ( EPA Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Generating Units, 80 Fed. Reg. 64,662 (Oct. 23, 2015 ( Clean Power Plan. 5. Declarants for the National Mining Association assert that the Clean B532

3 USCA Case # Document # Filed: 12/08/2015 Page 811 of 1227 Power Plan will cause premature coal plant retirements and the loss of well-paying jobs in the coal mining industry. Declarants also assert that coal has numerous benefits, including tax revenues in poor communities in Kentucky and income for these communities in the form of coal severance taxes (Bissett Decl. 5, 6. As I describe below, the terrible toll that coal has on the health, living conditions, and environment in coal communities by far outweighs the benefits the Declarants cite. 6. Declarants ignore the enormous health harms that coal inflicts on mine workers and other members of their communities. Local economies reliance on coal for decades has taken a huge toll on miners health. I have seen firsthand the adverse public health effects that black lung disease causes on those workers in Eastern Kentucky who still mine coal for a living. 7. Affordable Care Act amendments to the 1969 Coal Mine Safety Act, which provides compensation to miners disabled by black lung and their survivors, established a presumption of total disability if a miner has worked in coal mines for at least 15 years. Last year, researchers at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health found that the rate of the most severe form of black lung among Appalachian coal miners has resurged to levels last seen 46 years ago. 1 One black lung victim described the disease to me as smothering to death over a span of many years, and another becomes so debilitated by fits of coughing that his family often fears for his life. 8. The coal industry has dominated the economy in Appalachia for more than a century, but the industry has been in economic decline for several years. From 1 David J. Blackley and Cara N. Halldin, Resurgence of a Debilitating and Entirely Preventable Respiratory Disease among Working Coal Miners, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Vol. 190, No. 6, September 15, B533

4 USCA Case # Document # Filed: 12/08/2015 Page 812 of 1227 the economic perspective, for various reasons coal no longer provides the jobs it used to. Decades ago, mechanization resulted in fewer workers being needed to mine coal. Then more easily accessible reserves were greatly diminished, and other energy sources became competitive. 9. Coal s monopoly in Appalachia has not resulted in the economic benefits that Declarants allege, as mining companies have not invested in many of the communities where their workers live. A 2013 report on the State of American Well- Being ranked Kentucky s Fifth Congressional District last in a well-being index of 434 districts based on life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors, and basic access to healthcare The Clean Power Plan requires states to engage all stakeholders as they develop their plans. In the final rule, EPA recognized that stakeholders include unions, their workers, and communities. States that want to obtain an extension for submitting their final plans in 2018 must make an initial submittal in September 2016 that explains how they are engaging stakeholders and how they intend to ensure their continued involvement as they develop their final plans. 11. The Clean Power Plan is expected to create thousands of new jobs in clean energy industries. The Obama Administration s proposed POWER+ Plan, discussed in the final rule, will provide a just transition for workers and their communities away from coal into a clean energy economy. One portion of the POWER+ Plan, the POWER 2 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, State of American Well-Being State, Community, and Congressional District Analysis, available at pdf/WBI2013/Gallup-Healthways_State_of_American_Well- Being_Full_Report_2013.pdf. B534

5 USCA Case # Document # Filed: 12/08/2015 Page 813 of 1227 Initiative, has already begun, and federal authorities have announced $6 million in federal funding for communities in Eastern Kentucky to help communities retrain workers and create jobs in new sectors. EPA is also encouraging states to train affected workers and provide economic development assistance to their communities. 12. Communities in central Appalachia have expressed a desire to diversify their communities away from the mono-economy of coal. Resolutions in support of the Power+ Plan have been passed in counties and communities all across the coalfields. 13. Communities in coal country would be harmed if the rule is stayed. The initial state plan submittal process provides workers and other members of our communities the opportunity to advocate for needed federal and state financial assistance and specific programs to enable the transition to clean energy that will allow the diversification of our economies, create good jobs, and improve our health and livelihoods in the face of coal s decline. 14. For the foregoing reasons, I believe that a stay of the Clean Power Plan is unjustified and would be harmful to the public interest. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this day of December, 2015 in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Tarence Ray B535