Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

HTTPS

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

    • Environmental Topics
    • Air
    • Bed Bugs
    • Cancer
    • Chemicals, Toxics, and Pesticide
    • Emergency Response
    • Environmental Information by Location
    • Health
    • Land, Waste, and Cleanup
    • Lead
    • Mold
    • Radon
    • Research
    • Science Topics
    • Water Topics
    • A-Z Topic Index
    • Laws & Regulations
    • By Business Sector
    • By Topic
    • Compliance
    • Enforcement
    • Laws and Executive Orders
    • Regulations
    • Report a Violation
    • Environmental Violations
    • Fraud, Waste or Abuse
    • About EPA
    • Our Mission and What We Do
    • Headquarters Offices
    • Regional Offices
    • Labs and Research Centers
    • Planning, Budget, and Results
    • Organization Chart
    • EPA History

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help

If a plant establishes RINs at the beginning of the month and defines it as one month's production estimate (e.g. 8 million gallons), what happens if the plant produces more than 8 million gallons by the end of the month? Does the plant then start issuing a new batch number for the next 8 million gallon RIN? What if this happens in the middle of filling a rail car?

See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help.

RINs are not generated at the beginning of a month. Rather, gallon-RINs must have been generated by the time a volume of renewable fuel is transferred from the producer or importer to another party (at which point the RINs are assigned to that volume). See regulation Section 80.1126(e)(2). A producer or importer of renewable fuel can decide on its preferred approach of designating batch numbers (the BBBBB code in the RIN), and then put this batch number into all gallon-RINs generated up to a calendar month's production or 100 million gallon-RINs, whichever comes first.

If a producer/importer had predefined a specific volume limit (such as 8 million gallons) for each batch, and this limit was exceeded in the middle of filling a rail car, the producer/importer would have two options. Since the 8 million gallon limit is self-imposed, he could simply exceed this limit for this particular batch. Alternatively, he could generate a new set of gallon-RINs having a new batch number for the volume that exceeded 8 million gallons. In this latter case, the renewable fuel in the rail car would be transferred along with two separate batch-RINs, which differ only in the batch number (i.e. the BBBBB code) and the number of gallon-RINs they represent.

Question and Answer was originally posted at: Questions and Answers on the Renewable Fuel Standard Program (pdf) (55 pp, 221 KB, EPA420-F-07-041a, August 2007)

Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help

  • Registration
    • New Registrations
    • Updating Registrations
    • Job Aids
    • System Updates
  • Reporting
    • Attest Engagements
    • Diesel
    • Fuel and Fuel Additive Registrations (FFARs)
    • Gasoline
    • Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)
  • Public Data & Registration Lists
    • Gasoline Programs
    • Part 79 Registered Fuels & Fuel Additives
    • Part 80 Registered Companies & Facilities
    • Renewable Fuel Standard
  • Help
    • Searchable Help Index
    • Fuels Program Frequent Questions
Contact Us about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on May 21, 2025
  • Assistance
  • Spanish
  • Arabic
  • Chinese (simplified)
  • Chinese (traditional)
  • French
  • Haitian Creole
  • Korean
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Tagalog
  • Vietnamese
United States Environmental Protection Agency

Discover.

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Budget & Performance
  • Contracting
  • EPA www Web Snapshot
  • Grants
  • No FEAR Act Data
  • Plain Writing
  • Privacy
  • Privacy and Security Notice

Connect.

  • Data
  • Inspector General
  • Jobs
  • Newsroom
  • Regulations.gov
  • Subscribe
  • USA.gov
  • White House

Ask.

  • Contact EPA
  • EPA Disclaimers
  • Hotlines
  • FOIA Requests
  • Frequent Questions
  • Site Feedback

Follow.