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Stop RIN fraud act of 2012

Hydrocarbon Engineering,


The AFPM has offered its support to the ‘Stop RIN Fraud Act of 2012 which was introduced at the House of Representatives on 20th September. In a letter sent by Charles T. Drevna, AFPM President, to the bill’s co sponsors, he said, ‘the commonsense approach embedded in the legislation would protect the innocent victims of fraud and aid in the restoration of confidence in the renewable fuels market.’

To date, EPA has discovered 140 million fraudulent biomass based diesel Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), which are credits refiners buy and hand in to show compliance with federal biofuels mandates and represents more than 6% of the biodiesel RINs market. As obligated, US refiners purchased RINS in order to comply with terms in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). After fraudulent producers of biodiesel were discovered, several victims discovered that their RINs were not valid. Despite the RINs being purchased in good faith from EPA registered producers, the EPA moved to punish the victims of the fraud by issuing notices of violations (NOVs) accompanied by significant monetary fines. These obligated parties were also required to replace the invalid RINs through a massive repurchase mandate.

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Drevna commented, ‘although industry and EPA have been working together to resolve the situation, a solution has yet to be agreed upon. US refiners have unknowingly purchased millions of fraudulent renewable identification numbers and paid approximately US$ 200 million in RIN replacement costs. And, it is our understanding that EPA and the FBI continue to investigate more widespread fraud in the biodiesel industry.

‘The ‘Stop RIN Fraud Act’ would force EPA to establish a process for certifying RINs that would be valid for purposes of complying the RFS. This logical solution would not absolve the industry of its responsibility to exercise due diligence or place unwarranted burdens on EPA, but would finally provide a fair solution.’

Edited from press release by Claira Lloyd.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/21092012/stop_rin_fraud_act/

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