This settlement resolves allegations Iowa-based Western Dubuque Biodiesel, LLC entered into a series of transactions in 2011 that resulted in the generation of more than 36 million invalid renewable fuel credits. Western Dubuque owns and operates a 30 million gallon biodiesel plant located in Farley, Iowa. The company was formed in 2005 by a group of eastern Iowa farmers and business people.
The original Renewable Fuel Standard program (RFS1) was created under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and established the first renewable fuel volume mandate in the United States. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 expanded the program, which became known as the RFS2 program. The RFS2 program reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by setting a national mandate for renewable fuels that meet specific GHG emissions reduction standards. The RFS2 regulations created a market based program to assure that the national mandate will be met.
Renewable fuel producers and importers generate renewable fuel credits, known as Renewable Identification Numbers or RINs, for each gallon of renewable fuel that meets the GHG emissions reduction standards. The program requires refiners and importers, known as obligated parties, to retire a specific number of RINs each year based on the amount of petroleum fuel that they produce and import.
The RFS program was designed to reduce GHG emissions by 138 million metric tons when fully implemented in 2022. The reductions would be equivalent to taking