Chemoil to pay $27m and retire $71m in credits from renewable fuels
Staff Writer |
The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and announced a settlement with Chemoil Corporation.
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The settlement requires the company to retire 65 million renewable fuel credits to resolve alleged violations of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.
The current market value of the credits - along with an additional 7.7 million renewable identification numbers (RINs) already retired by Chemoil in the lead up to this settlement - is more than $71 million.
Chemoil will also pay a $27 million civil penalty under the settlement, the largest in the history of the EPA’s fuel programs.
The Department of Justice and EPA allege that Chemoil exported at least 48.5 million gallons of biodiesel from 2011 to 2013, but failed to retire the more than 72 million RINs that were generated for the exported fuel.
RINs are credits created when a company produces or imports renewable fuel and can be traded or sold to refiners and fuel importers or exporters to help them comply with the RFS program requirements.
The RFS program requires exporters to retire RINs for renewable fuel like biodiesel, because the fuel exported is no longer available for blending into United States’ fossil fuel supply and, for that reason, cannot be used to meet the renewable fuel volume mandate established by Congress.
If exporters fail to retire the appropriate number and type of RINs associated with the exported fuel, as the United States alleges happened here, it artificially inflates the volume of renewable fuel available for blending in this country and the number of RINs available to meet the renewable fuel volume mandate.
Ensuring exporters comply with the regulations for RIN retirement is critical to the proper functioning and integrity of the RFS program.
EPA discovered the alleged violations as a result of tips from RFS program participants. ■
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