The Environmental Protection Agency is investigating 15 power plants at Wisconsin state government facilities, including one on the University of Wisconsin-Superior campus, to see if they’re violating the federal Clean Air Act.

EPA officials in Washington have asked the state for information about the plants. Emily Winecke of the state Administration Department they’ve been working on the issue for some time, and it’s giving the EPA the information it requested

The Department of Natural Resources had told officials that five plants are not in compliance with the federal law – and five others could also be breaking it.

The five with violations are at the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison, and at U-W campuses in Oshkosh, La Crosse, Eau Claire and River Falls.

In February, administration officials said they planned to either eliminate the use of coal at those plants, or shut them down. Plants that were operating when the Clean Air Act took effect do not have to comply – but if they were substantially modified since then, they must get new permits and meet tougher emission standards.

Some of the state’s coal-burning plants have had millions-of-dollars’ worth of improvements. The other plants under investigation are at U-W Stevens Point, Stout, Superior, Platteville, and Whitewater – two state buildings in Madison in addition to Mendota – the Waupun Prison – the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh – and the Northern Wisconsin Center at Chippewa Falls.