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42 U.S.C. 7414, 7521, 7542, 7545, and 7601(a).
38 FR 1255, Jan. 10, 1973, unless otherwise noted.
75 FR 14863, Mar. 26, 2010, unless otherwise noted.
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(a) QAP audits conducted pursuant to § 80.1472 must be conducted by an independent third-party auditor.
(b) To be considered an independent third-party auditor under paragraph (a) of this section, all the following conditions must be met:
(1) The independent third-party auditor and its contractors and subcontractors must not be owned or operated by the audited party or any subsidiary or employee of the audited party.
(2) The independent third-party auditor and its contractors and subcontractors shall not be owned or operated by an obligated party or any subsidiary or employee of an obligated party.
(3) The independent third-party auditor must not own, buy, sell, or otherwise trade RINs unless required to replace an invalid RIN pursuant to § 80.1474.
(4) The independent third-party auditor and its contractors and subcontractors must be free from any interest or the appearance of any interest in the audited party's business.
(5) The audited party must be free from any interest or the appearance of any interest in the third-party auditor's business and the businesses of third-party auditor's contractors and subcontractors.
(6) The independent third-party auditor and its contractors and subcontractors must not have performed an attest engagement under § 80.1464(b) for the audited party for the same compliance period as a QAP audit conducted pursuant to § 80.1472.
(7) The independent third-party auditor and its contractors and subcontractors must not be debarred, suspended, or proposed for debarment pursuant to the Government-wide Debarment and Suspension regulations, 40 CFR part 32, or the Debarment, Suspension and Ineligibility provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulations, 48 CFR part 9, subpart 9.4.
(8) The independent third-party auditor and its contractors and subcontractors must act impartially when performing all activities under this section.
(9) The independent third-party auditor and its contractors and subcontractors must be free from any interest in the audited party's business and receive no financial benefit from the outcome of auditing service, apart from payment for the auditing services.
(10) The independent third-party auditor and its contractors and subcontractors must not have been involved in the design or construction of the audited facility.
(11) The independent third-party auditor and its contractors and subcontractors must ensure that all personnel involved in the third-party audit (including the verification activities) under this section are not negotiating for future employment with the owner or operator of the audited party. At a minimum, prior to conducting the audit, the independent third-party auditor must obtain an attestation (or similar document) from each person involved in the audit stating that they are not negotiating for future employment with the owner or operator of the audited party.
(12) The independent third-party auditor and its contractors and subcontractors must have written policies and procedures to ensure that the independent third-party auditor and all personnel under the independent third-party auditor's direction or supervision comply with the competency, independence, and impartiality requirements of this section.
(c) Independent third-party auditors must maintain professional liability insurance. Independent third-party auditors must use insurance providers that possess a financial strength rating in the top four categories from Standard & Poor's or Moody's (i.e., AAA, AA, A, or BBB for Standard & Poor's and Aaa, Aa, A, or Baa for Moody's), or a comparable rating acceptable to EPA. Independent third-party auditors must disclose the level of professional liability insurance they possess when entering into contracts to provide RIN verification services.
(d)
(1) In the event that an independent third-party auditor identifies a RIN that may have been invalidly generated, the independent third-party auditor shall, within five business days, send notification of the potentially invalidly generated RIN to the EPA and the renewable fuel producer that generated the RIN.
(2) The independent third-party auditor shall provide the notification required under paragraph (d)(1) of this section in writing (which includes email or facsimile) and, if requested by the party being notified of a potentially invalidly generated RIN, by telephone.
(e) The independent third-party auditor must identify RINs generated from a renewable fuel producer or foreign renewable fuel producer as having been verified under a QAP.
(1) For RINs verified under a QAP pursuant to § 80.1469, RINs must be designated as Q-RINs and must be identified as having been verified under a QAP in EMTS.
(2) The independent third-party auditor must not identify RINs generated from a renewable fuel producer or foreign renewable fuel producer as having been verified under a QAP if a revised QAP must be submitted to and approved by the EPA under § 80.1469(d).
(3) The independent third-party auditor must not identify RINs generated for renewable fuel produced using a biointermediate as having been verified under a QAP unless the biointermediate used to produce the renewable fuel was verified under an approved QAP pursuant to § 80.1477.
(f)
(1) Auditors may only verify RINs that have been generated after the audit required under § 80.1472 has been completed. Auditors may only verify biointermediates that were produced after the audit required under § 80.1472 has been completed. Auditors must only verify RINs generated from renewable fuels produced from biointermediates after the audit required under § 80.1472 has been completed for both the biointermediate production facility and the renewable fuel production facility.
(2) Verification of RINs or biointermediates may continue for no more than 200 days following an on-site visit or 380 days after an on-site visit if a previously EPA-approved remote monitoring system is in place at the renewable fuel production facility.
(g) The independent third-party auditor must permit any representative of the EPA to monitor at any time the implementation of QAPs and renewable fuel and biointermediate production facility audits.
(h) Any person who fails to meet a requirement under of this section shall be subject to a separate violation pursuant to § 80.1460(f).
[79 FR 42122, July 18, 2014, as amended at 80 FR 9098, Feb. 19, 2015; 87 FR 39674, July 1, 2022; 88 FR 44592, July 12, 2023; 91 FR 16496, Apr. 1, 2026]