(a) Any person who owns or operates an “existing HWM facility” or a facility in existence on the effective date of statutory or regulatory amendments under the Act that render the facility subject to the requirement to have a permit shall have interim status and shall be treated as having been issued a permit to the extent the owner or operator has:

(b) When the Department determines on examination or reexamination of a Part A application that it fails to meet the standards of these regulations, it shall notify the owner or operator in writing that the application is deficient, and specify the grounds for the Department's belief that the application is deficient. The Department may also notify the owner or operator that the owner or operator is therefore not entitled to interim status. The owner or operator will then be subject to enforcement for operating without a permit.

(c) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to any facility which has been previously denied a permit or if authority to operate the facility has been previously terminated.