Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement today after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an agreement to share information regarding the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) in order to fight the potential for manipulation along the fuel supply chain of the Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN) market. RINs help blenders and refiners track compliance with the RFS. In 2013, Loebsack led 13 members of the House in calling on the CFTC to ensure the integrity of the RIN market.
Loebsack and his colleagues were concerned about the effect potential market manipulation and fraud would have on the volatility of RIN prices.
“After nearly three years since I first led the call for inter-agency cooperation, I am pleased that the CFTC and EPA have finally agreed to share information to help fight fraud in the RIN market. We cannot allow market manipulation and fraud to cause volatility in the price of ethanol. Ensuring the integrity of the RIN market should be of the utmost importance for the CFTC. It is imperative that we have fair, transparent and open markets and I will keep fighting to make sure the RIN market remains that way.”
