What should a company do if they believe they currently own invalid RINs or retired invalid RINs to meet its RVO?
Follow the regulations at 40 C.F.R. § 80.1431(b) (excerpted below) and, as needed, contact the EPA’s Fuels Compliance Center of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) via the Fuels Programs Support Line (EPAFuelsPrograms@epa.gov or 1-800-385-6164).
“In the case of RINs that are invalid, the following provisions apply:
Upon determination by any party that RINs owned are invalid, the party must keep copies and adjust its records, reports, and compliance calculations in which the invalid RINs were used. The party must retire the invalid RINs in the applicable RIN transaction reports under 40 C.F.R. § 80.1451(c)(2) for the quarter in which the RINs were determined to be invalid.
Invalid RINs cannot be used to achieve compliance with the Renewable Volume Obligations of an obligated party or exporter, regardless of the party's good faith belief that the RINs were valid at the time they were acquired.
Any valid RINs remaining after invalid RINs are retired must first be applied to correct the transfer of invalid RINs to another party before applying the valid RINs to meet the party's Renewable Volume Obligations at the end of the compliance year.”