# €ffi MOAPA 

# BAND OF 

# PAIUTES MOAPA RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION

BOX 340 MOAPA, NEVADA 89025 TELE PHON E {702) 865-27 87 FAX (702) 865-2875



### May 

### 30,2012 Lisa Jacks on,

### Administrator U.S. 

### EPA Headquarters 

### Ariel Rios 

### Building 1200 Pennsylvania 

### Ave, N.W. 

### Mail Code: 

### l

## l0lA Washington, 

### DC 20460 Email : iackson. Iisa(@epa. qqv 

### Re: EPA's Pending 

### Final Decision 

### with Respectto

### An Inadequate 

### BART determination 

### forNV Energy's Coal-Fired Power Plant at 

### Reid Gardner

Dear 

### Administrator Jacksoq 

### Iwould like to

### follow up on the 

### letterthat 

### I sentto

### you on

### April 3,2072 (please
seethe attached) on 

### behalf 

### of the 

### Moapa Band 

### of Paiute Indians. 

### In that 

### letter, 

### I expressed concern that 

### EPA's proposed Best 

### Available Retrofit Technology 

### (BART) determination, pursuant 

### to the Clean

### Air Act, was 

### far too 

### lax in its 

### imposition of controls on 

### NV Energy's Reid Gardner Generating 

### SAtion. This is a

### coal plant that was sited 

### directly adjacent 

### to our 

### community; its smoke stack-emissions, 

## fly ash 

### contamination and associated 

### additional 

### pollution severely impact 

### our community.
We have yet 

### to hear back 

### from you 

### with respect 

### to our

### April 3 

### letter. However, since that 

### time,we have met

### with several 

### of

### your

### staffin Washington 

### D.C. and 

### participated in

### your agency's hearings 

### held on the Reservation and 

### in Overton on 

### May 3. 

### We appreciate

### your 

### staffs expressions 

### of interest and concem as

### well as

### their willingness to 

### travel to the Reservation to hear

### directly the concerns 

### of our people. 

### Nearly athfud 

### of our entire community came 

### outto

### testiff in defense 

### of our children, our people's very way 

### of 

### life, our 

### health and the health 

### of the entire region.

### But the

### Tribe needs 

### your direct engagement. We need 

### it now.



### NV Energy does

### what regulators 

### permit 

### it to do 

### -- notwithstanding what is

### just, what is goodfor 

### public health, 

### what is sustainable, and

### what is required 

### for a

### relatively stable 

### climate system. 

### The problem here is that 

### your agency

### to date has 

### not extended the

### full measure 

## of protection under the 

### law to our 

### region and people. 

### In particular, EPA has adopted a 

### notion 

### of 'oincremental 

### visibility improvement" that is 

### not contemplated under the Clean 

### Air Act andwhose 

### application, under 

### EPA's draft, disadvantages 

### public health 

### generally and 

### my people in particular. 

### Your agency has extended 

### far more 

### rigorous protection to people and

### visibility values 

### alike elsewhere -- 

### but not here where the 

### impact ofthis coal

### plant's pollution is so 

### direct and 

### egregious. This is 

### inconsistenl unwarranted, and 

### unworthy of the 

### US 

### EPA.

# If adopted,

### your proposal 

### would constitute agrafuitous 

### new act 

### of environmental injustice. 

### Accordingly, we renew 

### our 

### invitation to 

### you to

### visit to the 

### Reservation. Please see 

### for

### yourself,without delay, 

### how this coal 

### plant's exceptionally close 

### proximity to our 

### community center imposes a

### terrible 

### toll on 

### my people. 

### This

### will help 

### you to choose 

### to enforce 

### the 

### law in a

### way that enhances

### visibility and protects the people 

### alike.
Thank you for your consideration. We 

### lookforward to hearing 

### from you soon. Should 

### you have any question, 

### or should 

### you wish to accept

### our 

### invitation to

### visit the Reservation, please contact 

### our attorneyo 

### Dan Galpem,

### at 541'968-7L64

### or galpern.tebbuttlaw @grnrnil. com.

Cc: 

### Harry Reid, 

### Majority Leader 

### ofthe 

### United States 

### Senate 

## N*cy Sutley, 

### Chairwoman of the 

### Council on 

### Environmental

### Quality Heather Zlkal, 

### Deputy Assistant to the 

### President

### for Energy and 

### Climate Change Sincerely,

Page 2 of 2

# I{OAPA BAND 

# OF PAIUTES I,IOAPA 

### RIVER 

### INDIAN RESERVATION



### BOx 340 UOAPA,NEVADA 

### 89025 TELEPHONE 

### 702. 

### 865. 2787 

### FAX

### 702.865.2875

Apr|l3,2012
Lisa Jackson, 

### Administrator U.S. EPA Headquarters 

### Ariel Rios 

### Building 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, 

### N.W. 

### Mail Code: 1101A Washington, 

### DC 20460 

### Email: iackson.lisa@epa. gov 

### Re: EPA's Unjust Proposal 

### with Respect to Reid Gardner 

### pollution
Dear Administrator Jackson, 

### I speak

### for the Moapa Band of Paiutes, afederally recognized Tribe 

### within the plume and downwind of 

### NV Energy's Reid Gardner coal-fired power plant and associated facilities. Let me note, atthe outset,that the land andthe air and water here were relatively clean before the coal plant. 

### But with 

### NV Energy's arrival 

### in our ancestral lands we have. 

### for nearly six decades, suffered from the unrelenting air, water, and dust 

### pollution generated bythis

### facility, including the

### blowing coal ash and hydrogensulfide gas 

### pollution stemming, respectively, 

### fiom the Reid Gardner coal ash

### landfill and wastewater ponds. Yesterday, Region 9of EPA proposed a Best 

### Available Control Technology 

### (BART) determinationfor Reid Gardner NOx 

### pollution, pursuanttothe Regional Haze Rule under the Clean

### Air Act, that is inconsistent 

### with the law, inconsistent 

### with EPA's strong decisions elsewhere (such as atthe San Juan Generating Station 

### in New 

### Mexico), and contrary to the environmental justice principles towhich you have 

### nominally given support. In particular, EPA's proposed 

### NOx 

### limits allow 

### pollution concentration levels several times greater than the 

### limits you have approved elsewhere. 

### It is clear now that Region 9

### will not, on its own" grasp the opportunity to impose stringent, cost-effective controls that

### will protect 

### visibitity in the region and, as a

### critical ancillary benefit, protect public health.The Reid Gardner 

### facility 

## - including its coal ash 

### landfill and its collection 

### of wastewater

ponds 

## - is adjacenttotheTribe, 

### within a mile of its community center, and

### within aVz mile

### of the closest homesof 

### Tribal Members. The

### facility generates significant quantities of regional haze 

### pollution in Nevada and 

### it imposes on

### Tribal members anoverwhelming environmental and public health burden. The impacts of the coal plant, coal ash dump, and the wastewater ponds, on our community and on ourway of 

### life cannot be

### fully understood without comingtoour community and speaking 

### with Tribal Members. Because of this, 

### in September 2411, we invited you to

### visit the Reservation and see

### for yourself. We hereby renew that 

### invitation, in the hope that you

### will visit well before making a

### final decision on 

### BART. We appealed to you late last year out of concern that Region 9woutd not do the 

### right thing. Now, 

### in the wake of the Region's submission tothe coal plant and its rejection of the 

### minimal demands of public health, we again seek your engagement. As you stated 

### in your letter that commenced your Agency's Environmental Justice Plan2014, "every American deserves clean air,water and land 

### in the places where they 

### live, work, play and 

### leam."' We must askyou, now: 

### Are we, the Moapa, 

### within your scope of concern? 

### [f so, then

### for EPA to 

### "[ead] by... 

### workingfor environmental 

### justice,"' it is necessary 

### for you to take back this proposed determination. Your Agency has acknowledged that breathing^ ozone reduces lung function, inflames the 

### lining of the lungs, and permanently scars lung tissue.' Accordingly, failure to impose the most stringent cost effective controls

### will consign my peopleto unnecessary disease and early death. This failure 

### itself constitutes a renewed environmental injustice, one that compounds the damage of decades of preventable 

### pollution imposed on my people.

### Altematively, you can choose to act 

### firmly to meet Congress's 

### visibility goals 

### with the notable co-benefit of protecting public health and honoring yourAgency's long-standing environmental justice commitments. We urge you take strong action, at long last. Please intervene to ensure that your Agency, 

### in crafting your

### final determination, upholds the law, protects the environment, and protects our people

### fully. Thank you 

### for your consideration. We look forward to hearing 

### from you

### soon. Should you have any question, or should you wish to accept our 

### invitation to

### visit the Reservation, please contact our attorney, Dan Galpern, at 54I-359-3243, or galpern@westernlaw.org. 

### Sincerely.
,

## /'

t Message from Administrator Jackson in Plan EJ2014, found at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/ej/planejlindex.html. 'td. 3http ://www .epa.gov/ glo /hea lth.htm I iam Anderson, Chai

oapa Band o[ Paiutes

Page 2of 2