§ 80.1426 How are RINs generated and assigned to batches of renewable fuel?
(a) General requirements. (1) Renewable fuel producers, importers of renewable fuel, and other parties allowed to generate RINs under this part may only generate RINs to represent renewable fuel if they meet the requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section and if all the following occur:
(i) The fuel qualifies for a D code pursuant to § 80.1426(f), or the EPA has approved a petition for use of a D code pursuant to § 80.1416.
(ii) The fuel is demonstrated to be produced from renewable biomass pursuant to the reporting requirements of § 80.1451 and the recordkeeping requirements of § 80.1454.
(A) Feedstocks meeting the requirements of renewable biomass through the aggregate compliance provision at § 80.1454(g) are deemed to be renewable biomass.
(B) [Reserved]
(iii) The fuel was produced in compliance with the registration requirements of § 80.1450, the reporting requirements of § 80.1451, the recordkeeping requirements of § 80.1454, all conditions set forth in an approval document for a pathway petition submitted under § 80.1416, and all other applicable regulations of this subpart M.
(iv) The fuel is designated on a product transfer document (PTD) for use as transportation fuel, heating oil, or jet fuel in accordance with § 80.1453(a)(12).
(2) To generate RINs for imported renewable fuel, including any renewable fuel contained in imported transportation fuel, heating oil, or jet fuel, importers must obtain information from a non-RIN-generating foreign renewable fuel producer that is registered pursuant to § 80.1450 sufficient to make the appropriate determination regarding the applicable D code and compliance with the renewable biomass definition for each imported batch for which RINs are generated.
(3) A party generating a RIN shall specify the appropriate numerical values for each component of the RIN in accordance with the provisions of § 80.1425(a) and paragraph (f) of this section.
(4) Where a feedstock or biointermediate is used to produce renewable fuel and is not entirely renewable biomass, RINs may only be generated for the portion of fuel that is derived from renewable biomass, as calculated under paragraph (f)(4) of this section.
(b) Regional applicability. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, a RIN may only be generated by a renewable fuel producer or importer for a batch of renewable fuel that satisfies the requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section if it is produced or imported for use as transportation fuel, heating oil, or jet fuel in the covered location.
(2) If the Administrator approves a petition of Alaska or a United States territory to opt-in to the renewable fuel program under the provisions in § 80.1443, then the requirements of paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall also apply to renewable fuel produced or imported for use as transportation fuel, heating oil, or jet fuel in that state or territory beginning in the next calendar year.
(c) Cases in which RINs are not generated. (1) No person may generate RINs for fuel that does not satisfy the requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section.
(2) A party must not generate RINs for renewable fuel that is not produced for use in the covered location.
(3) [Reserved]
(4) Importers shall not generate RINs for renewable fuel imported from a non-RIN-generating foreign renewable fuel producer unless the foreign renewable fuel producer is registered with EPA as required in § 80.1450.
(5) Importers shall not generate RINs for renewable fuel that has already been assigned RINs by a RIN-generating foreign renewable fuel producer.
(6) A party is prohibited from generating RINs for a volume of fuel that it produces if the fuel has been produced by a process that uses a renewable fuel as a feedstock, and the renewable fuel that is used as a feedstock was produced by another party, except that RINs may be generated for such fuel if allowed by the EPA in response to a petition submitted pursuant to § 80.1416 and the petition approval specifies a mechanism to prevent double counting of RINs or where RINs are generated for RNG.
(7) For renewable fuel oil that is heating oil as defined in paragraph (2) of the definition of heating oil in § 80.2, renewable fuel producers and importers shall not generate RINs unless they have received affidavits from the final end user or users of the fuel oil as specified in § 80.1451(b)(1)(ii)(T)(2).
(8) RINs must not be generated for a biointermediate.
(d)
(1) Definition of batch. For the purposes of this section and § 80.1425, a “batch of renewable fuel” is a volume of renewable fuel that has been assigned a unique identifier within a calendar year by the producer or importer of the renewable fuel in accordance with the provisions of this section and § 80.1425. Biogas producers and RNG producers must use the definitions of batch for biogas and RNG in §§ 80.105(j) and 80.110(j), respectively.
(i) The number of gallon-RINs generated for a batch of renewable fuel may not exceed 99,999,999.
(ii) A batch of renewable fuel cannot represent renewable fuel produced or imported in excess of one calendar month.
(2) Multiple gallon-RINs generated to represent a given volume of renewable fuel can be represented by a single batch-RIN through the appropriate designation of the RIN volume codes SSSSSSSS and EEEEEEEE.
(i) The value of SSSSSSSS in the batch-RIN shall be 00000001 to represent the first gallon-RIN associated with the volume of renewable fuel.
(ii) The value of EEEEEEEE in the batch-RIN shall represent the last gallon-RIN associated with the volume of renewable fuel, based on the RIN volume VRIN determined pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section.
(iii) Under § 80.1452, RIN volumes will be managed by EMTS. RIN codes SSSSSSSS and EEEEEEEE do not have a role in EMTS.
(e) Assignment of RINs to batches. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (g) of this section for delayed RINs, the producer or importer of renewable fuel must assign all RINs generated from a specific batch of renewable fuel to that batch of renewable fuel.
(2) A RIN is assigned to a volume of renewable fuel when ownership of the RIN is transferred along with the transfer of ownership of the volume of renewable fuel, pursuant to § 80.1428(a).
(3) All assigned RINs shall have a K code value of 1.
(f) Generation of RINs—(1) Applicable pathways. (i) D codes must be used in RINs generated by producers or importers of renewable fuel according to approved pathways or as specified in paragraph (f)(6) of this section.
(ii) In choosing an appropriate D code, producers and importers may disregard any incidental, de minimis feedstock contaminants that are impractical to remove and are related to customary feedstock production and transport.
(iii) Tables 1 and 2 to this section do not apply to, and impose no requirements with respect to, volumes of fuel for which RINs are generated pursuant to paragraph (f)(6) of this section.
(iv) Pathways in Table 1 to this section and advanced technologies in Table 2 to this section also apply in cases where the renewable fuel producer is using a biointermediate.
(v) For the purposes of identifying the appropriate pathway in Table 1 to this section, biointermediates used for the production of renewable fuel are considered to be equivalent to the renewable biomass from which they were derived, with the following exceptions:
(A) Oil that is physically separated from any woody or herbaceous biomass and used to produce renewable fuel shall not generate D-code 3 or 7 RINs.
(B) Sugar or starch that is physically separated from cellulosic biomass and used to produce renewable fuel shall not generate D-code 3 or 7 RINs.
(vi) If a renewable fuel producer uses a biointermediate for the production of renewable fuel, additional requirements apply to both the renewable fuel producer and the biointermediate producer as described in § 80.1476.
(2) Renewable fuel that can be described by a single pathway. (i) The number of gallon-RINs that shall be generated for a batch of renewable fuel by a producer or importer for renewable fuel that can be described by a single pathway shall be equal to a volume calculated according to the following formula:
Where:
(ii) The D code that shall be used in the RINs generated shall be the D code specified in the approved pathway that corresponds to the pathway that describes the producer's operations.
(3) Renewable fuel that can be described by two or more pathways. (i) The D codes that shall be used in the RINs generated by a producer or importer whose renewable fuel can be described by two or more pathways shall be the D codes specified in the approved pathways that correspond to the pathways that describe the renewable fuel throughout that calendar year.
(ii) If all the pathways describing the producer's operations have the same D code and each batch is of a single fuel type, then that D code shall be used in all the RINs generated and the number of gallon-RINs that shall be generated for a batch of renewable fuel shall be equal to a volume calculated according to the following formula:
Where:
(iii) If all the pathways describing the producer's operations have the same D code but individual batches are comprised of a mixture of fuel types with different equivalence values, then that D code shall be used in all the RINs generated and the number of gallon-RINs that shall be generated for a batch of renewable fuel shall be equal to a volume calculated according to the following formula:
Where:
Vs,i = Standardized volume of fuel type i in the batch of renewable fuel at 60 °F, in gallons, calculated in accordance with paragraph (f)(8) of this section.
(iv) If the pathway applicable to a producer changes on a specific date, such that one pathway applies before the date and another pathway applies on and after the date, and each batch is of a single fuel type, then the applicable D code and batch identifier used in generating RINs must change on the date that the change in pathway occurs and the number of gallon-RINs that shall be generated for a batch of renewable fuel shall be equal to a volume calculated according to the following formula: