On April 7, 2008, a Notice of Violation was issued for a Severity Level III violation, due to changes the licensee made to its NRC approved emergency plan; specifically they made changes to the emergency action levels (EALs), between 1996 and 2001, without first obtaining Commission approval. This decreased the effectiveness of the emergency plan. The violation cited the licensee for not following 10 CFR 50.54(q), which requires, in part, that a licensee authorized to possess and operate a nuclear power reactor shall follow and maintain in effect emergency plans which meet the standards in 10 CFR 50.47(b) and the requirements in appendix E of this part.