WASHINGTON, September 20, 2012 – The American Petroleum Institute (API) welcomed bipartisan legislation introduced by Representatives Pete Olson (R-Tex.) and Gene Green (D-Tex.) that would fix major flaws in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) renewable fuel credit program.
“This is a problem EPA could have, and should have, resolved by now,” said API President and CEO Jack Gerard. “EPA’s failure to act quickly could raise the cost of making fuels in the United States, and it’s time for Congress to provide a solution.”
EPA has uncovered more than 140 million invalid renewable fuel credits, known as RINs, generated by three biodiesel companies, representing between 5 and 12 percent of the biodiesel market. Refiners that purchased credits from biodiesel companies that were supposedly approved by EPA – but later found to be fraudulent – have been subject to EPA fines and penalties and must purchase new credits, according to API.
“The current system is unworkable and could potentially undermine the entire renewable fuel standard,” said Gerard. “This legislation requires EPA to provide safeguards for refiners that purchase certified credits in good faith so they can begin purchasing credits to comply with next year’s biofuel requirements.”
API represents more than 500 companies involved in all aspects of the oil and natural gas industry, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America’s energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers more than $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested more than $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.