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James Bounds has been working in the mines since 1969. Now 78, and living in Fayette County, West Virginia, he was first diagnosed with black lung in 1984. He was told to quit working at the mines, but he didn’t. He continued working until 2003, when he was permanently disabled with black lung.

“I had so many obligations at that time that I couldn’t quit the mines,” he said. “I wanted to continue to work … and mining pay, y’know, so I can keep things going here at the house.” It wasn’t until 2009, years after he was forced into retirement, that Bounds started receiving black lung benefits.

Today, Bounds has difficulty walking around his yard or carrying groceries 25 feet from his driveway to his house. “There’s nothing you can do. Every time you go out in the yard, even walk around the yard, you got to have an oxygen tank with you,” he said.

For many miners in Appalachia, this year was supposed to be one of progress in which they would finally see a commitment to solving the issue of black lung. Last year, on April 18, 2024, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued its final rule, Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection, which aimed to reduce miners’ exposure to an airborne compound that is a major cause of black lung, and improve respiratory protection for all airborne hazards. The law, which establishes a uniform permissible exposure limit and requirements for monitoring, had a compliance/enforcement date of April 14, 2025. The date came and went, and miners are still waiting for the rule to come into effect.

According to Bounds, miners have tried for years to have a silica rule implemented, but to no avail. “Every time they delay it, you can count the lives that you lost in between delays and that really burdens me down. It really makes me sad that people have to give their life before they are able to pass anything,” he said. “Meanwhile, the miners are getting sick, they’re dying. They can’t make a living for their family.”

“Every time you go out in the yard, even walk around the yard, you got to have an oxygen tank with you.”

The Trump administration, early on, promised to reinvigorate America’s “beautiful clean coal industry,” direct relevant agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining, and prioritize coal leasing on those lands. Some miners hoped that this would lead to an increase in work available to them. In an April 8

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