Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard ...

The D code would identify cellulosic biomass ethanol batches as such. Since the
Act requires that a minimum of 250 million gallons of cellulosic biomass ethanol be
consumed starting in 2013, obligated parties will need to be able to distinguish RINs
representing cellulosic biomass ethanol from RINs representing other types of renewable
fuel. This requirement is discussed in more detail in Section III.A.
The K code would be used to specify whether the RIN represents actual gallons of
renewable fuel, or instead represents extra-value RINs. Extra-value RINs arise only in
cases where the Equivalence Value is greater than 1.0. Extra-value RINs are discussed in
more detail in Section III.D.2.b below.
The RIN also contains two values that together identify the total number of
gallons in a batch as well as uniquely identifying each gallon in that batch 29 . When RINs
are first assigned to a batch of renewable fuel by its producer or importer, the volume
start block for that batch will in general be 1 (i.e. SSSSSS will have a value of 000001).
The volume block end is the total volume number of gallons in the batch (i.e. for a 10,000
gallon batch, EEEEEE would have a value of 010000). Thus the single RIN assigned to
the batch is in effect shorthand for all the unique RINs assigned to every individual
gallon in the batch. We propose that the number of gallons in a batch be standardized to
60 o F to avoid RIN assignment problems associated with volume swell due to
temperature changes. We have assigned six digits to the volume block codes to allow
batches up to a million gallons in size. We request comment on whether a fewer number
of digits for the SSSSSS and EEEEEE codes would be sufficient.
Since "RIN" can refer to either the number assigned to the batch or the number
representing each gallon in that batch, we propose distinguishing between a batch-RIN
and a gallon-RIN. A batch-RIN would be the multi-character code written on a product
transfer document associated with a batch of renewable fuel. The batch-RIN would
include SSSSSS and EEEEEE values identifying every (volume-standardized) gallon in
the batch, each of which would be assigned its own gallon-RIN. A gallon-RIN would
have identical SSSSSS and EEEEEE values identifying one gallon in a batch.
Our approach to RINs permits the batch to be divided into smaller batches at any
point in the distribution system while maintaining the assignment of unique RINs. For
instance, if a 1000 gallon batch of renewable fuel is divided into two 500 gallon batches,
the volume block start and block end values in the original batch-RIN would change to
reflect the batch split. The batch-RIN for the first 500 gallon batch would have an
SSSSSS value of 000001 and an EEEEEE value of 000500, while the second 500 gallon
batch would have an SSSSSS value of 000501 and an EEEEEE value of 001000.
Additional batch splits would be handled similarly. More discussion of batch splits is
provided in Section III.E.1.b.i.
29 RINs represent actual gallons in a batch when the RIN is a standard-value RIN. Extra-value RINs
represent additional gallons in cases where the Equivalence Value is greater than 1.0. See further
discussion in Section III.D.2.b.
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