Lee Enterprises Consulting announced a first-of-its-kind RIN verification program on Jan. 31, known as RIN 9000, to assist biodiesel blenders, producers and obligated parties in verifying the validity of RINs being sold or purchased. The program was designed by the consulting group’s principal, Wayne Lee, in conjunction with Jess Hewitt of Gulf Hydrocarbon and biodiesel engineering group Agri-Process Innovations to create security and stability in RINs.

“In light of recent difficulties in the RIN marketplace, blenders and obligated parties are understandably concerned about the validity of RINs they seek to purchase,” said Lee. “They want every assurance that the RINs are valid, and although the majority of small biodiesel producers are doing things correctly, they are still facing a very difficult environment with respect to selling their RINs.”

The new program offers both an initial certification and ongoing RIN validation, and it will be administered by Diesels LLC, a company currently managed by Lee Enterprises Consulting. The process will include verification from a RIN expert that the plant has been properly educated in the creation, separation and transfer of RINs, and the approved uses for which the biodiesel must be sold. The program will also include an independent review by experienced biodiesel professionals confirming that a plant is correctly creating and handling its RINs.

“The group we have assembled to implement this program is the best in the business,” Lee said. “We spent a great deal of time listening to the concerns of both the buyers and sellers of RINs, and we believe we have created a market-changing RIN verification product.”

The consulting group’s strategic alliance in accounting matters, Christianson & Associates, currently performs a significant number of the annual RIN attestation engagements as required by the U.S. EPA, and will work with any of the group’s clients that need those services. The group’s strategic alliance for legal matters, Stoel Rives law firm, currently serves the legal needs of a number of alternative fuels plants nationwide and will be available to provide guidance on RINs and other legal matters.  

Lee believes that this new program will eventually become an accepted industry standard, adding that his group worked diligently to launch this program in time for the National Biodiesel Conference to be held Feb. 5-8, when many industry participants will gather in Orlando, Fla.   

In other company news, Lee Enterprises Consulting also announced the addition of Dennis Zeedyk as its glycerin specialist. Zeedyk received a B.S. in Agriculture from The Ohio State University and an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois. After grain trading for several years, Zeedyk worked for the U.S. Grains Council in Southeast Asia and several USAID development projects in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union before returning to the U.S. to start and operate a multifeedstock biodiesel plant in Indiana for plant investors.

“Dennis will actually fill two roles for us,” Lee said. “Not only will he be able to assist our clients with glycerin-related issues, but his plant management experience will allow him to serve our clients as an interim manager when needed.” Zeedyk has directed and overseen the building of acid esterification systems, and as a plant manager he was directly responsible for the purchase and delivery of feedstock and other production inputs, and the sale of both biodiesel and glycerin. In addition to his consulting practice with Lee Enterprises, Zeedyk operates a glycerin marketing company called Glycerin Traders LLC.

Lee Enterprises is a biodiesel consulting firm specializing in project oversight and management, feasibility studies, grants, business plans, and assistance with planning, market analysis, site evaluation, feedstock selection and procurement, process technology, evaluation, offtake distribution, RINs, financing, capital budgeting, cold soak filtration, personnel and contract negotiations (for feedstock, offtake, transportation, construction, site purchase/lease, and plant management). The group also owns National Business Brokerage Inc., a full-service business brokerage firm specializing in the buying and selling of biodiesel plants.