AEC commenced construction of its coal preparation plant on or about June 1, 2001 and began operating its coal preparation plant on or about July 10, 2002. On June 7, 2001, OEPA issued a Final Permit-to-Install to the facility.
AECÂs Permit-to-Install states that AEC must comply with the requirements of 40 C.F.R. Part 60, Subpart Y. On March 9, 2006, U.S. EPA issued a Section 114 request letter to AEC requesting, among other things, all correspondence between AEC, OEPA and U.S. EPA. On March 23, 2006, AEC submitted a response to the March 9, 2006, Section 114 request letter. In the March 23, 2006 response, AEC did not provide a copy of its notification that construction of the coal preparation plant had commenced; AEC did not provide a copy of its notification of the actual date of initial start-up of the plant; AEC did not provide a copy of its written report of results of its compliance test conducted at the plant; AEC did not provide copies of any deviation reports for its Beallsville, Ohio coal preparation plant. EPA alleges that AEC failed to comply with the Ohio SIP and NSPS Subpart Y. On June 29, 2006, U.S. EPA issued a Notice of Violation/Finding of Violation to AEC for violations of the Act and SIP. AEC has agreed to pay a penalty of $40,000.