A big issue in the current Renewable Fuels Standard … as well as the new RFS2 under consideration by the EPA … is the Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs).
In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we listen in on the conversation from the recent 2nd Annual RINWorld Summit held in Dallas, TX where the EPA’s John Wienrauch, Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAC) and Erv Pickell, Office of Enforcement Compliance Insurance briefed attendees on some issues with RINs and the current RFS and what we could see with the new RFS2.
Some of the current problems include unregistered users generating invalid numbers, duplicates RINs and even some fraud out there. And once a bad RIN is out there, it affects everyone down the line. But for the most part, those issues seem to be honest mistakes. Pickell says the EPA has been more forgiving with those who have self-reported their problems, but tighter controls will have to rein these issues in the future, especially with the new RFS2.
Weihrach says it comes down to the three Rs: registration, record-keeping and reporting.
It’s an important conversation, and you can here more of it here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/domesticfuel/DFCast-11-20-09.mp3]