The $4.6 billion agreement requires American Electric Power Company of Ohio to equip its coal-burning plants with scrubbers and to pay penalties for damages caused by acid rain.

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The settlement requires AEP to:

• Cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 69 percent by 2016, and reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 79 percent by 2018.

• Pay $60 million in mitigation measures. The money includes $21 million to reduce emissions from barges and trucks in the Ohio River Valley; $24 million for projects to conserve energy and produce alternative energy; and $3 million for the Chesapeake Bay, $2 million for Shenandoah National Park and $10 million to acquire ecologically sensitive lands in Appalachia.

AEP said it had not violated the Clean Air Act. The company had opposed the $15 million civil penalty but did not have to admit guilt as part of the settlement, a spokesman said. Failure to comply with the terms of the settlement could result in daily penalties of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Source: www.onelocalnews.com