Reps. Olson, Blackburn Introduce ‘Stop RIN Fraud Act of 2012′
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) U.S. Reps. Pete Olson, R-Texas, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced the Stop RIN Fraud Act of 2012 (H.R. 6444) Sept. 20 to shore up weaknesses in the U.S. EPA’s renewable identification number (RIN) program.
The RIN program allows fuel producers and refiners to comply with the renewable fuel standard (RFS), which requires them to blend a certain amount of renewable fuel into petroleum stocks every year. Each gallon of renewable fuel is assigned a RIN, which are traded between companies to meet their obligations.
A press release from Olson’s office states that, because of the lack of oversight in the RIN market, illicit companies have generated hundreds of millions of fake RINs, costing legitimate producers, refiners and traders hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. READ MORE and MORE (Renewable Energy World)
Excerpt from Renewable Energy World: The NBB opposes the legislation, says Evans, believing it “would remove all responsibility for due diligence from petroleum refiners to verify RINs, which we believe could create new potential for fraud.” He added that the legislation has a “low” probability of passing.
Rather, he said, the NBB supports the EPA’s efforts to update the regulation and has partnered with Louisville, KY-based Genscape Inc. as one provider of a RIN auditing program called the RIN Integrity Network. Evans says NBB partnered with Genscape after its RIN Integrity Task Force determined that a real-time monitoring program, rather than just a periodic audit program, was the most effective way to eliminate fraud and restore liquidity and confidence to the RIN market. “Genscape was and still is the only real-time monitoring program,” he says, although other RIN auditing programs exist, including those from EcoEngineers, Murex, EM Biofuels, and Frazier Barnes & Associates.
Susan Olson, VP, of analytical research & development at Genscape, says approximately 16 biofuel producers, who produce between 1 million and 30 million RINs per year, are on its network dashboard. “We have helped them isolate some small issues they’ve had with compliance, but there is definitely a wait and see attitude to see what the EPA is going to do.” READ MORE
