ACCRUED EXPENSES

Accrued expenses consisted of the following:



	September 30, 2017		December 31, 2016
Inventory-related accruals	$	984,702	$	810,027
Inventory intermediation arrangements	282,640		225,524
Renewable energy credit and emissions obligations	138,717		70,158
Excise and sales tax payable	91,042		86,046
Accrued transportation costs	90,933		89,830
Customer deposits	45,548		9,215
Accrued utilities	36,274		44,190
Accrued refinery maintenance and support costs	36,098		28,670
Accrued salaries and benefits	32,709		17,466
Accrued interest	30,987		28,934
Accrued capital expenditures	18,933		33,610
Environmental liabilities	8,295		8,882
Other	12,693		10,177
Total accrued expenses	$	1,809,571	$	1,462,729

The Company has the obligation to repurchase certain intermediates and finished products that are held in the Company’s refinery storage tanks at the Delaware City and Paulsboro refineries in accordance with the A&R Intermediation Agreements with J. Aron. As of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, a liability is recognized for the inventory intermediation arrangements and is recorded at market price for the J. Aron owned inventory held in the Company’s storage tanks under the A&R Intermediation Agreements, with any change in the market price being recorded in Cost of products and other.

The Company is subject to obligations to purchase Renewable Identification Numbers (“RINs”) required to comply with the Renewable Fuels Standard. The Company’s overall RINs obligation is based on a percentage of domestic shipments of on-road fuels as established by the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”). To the degree the Company is unable to blend the required amount of biofuels to satisfy its RINs obligation, RINs must be purchased on the open market to avoid penalties and fines. The Company records its RINs obligation on a net basis in Accrued expenses when its RINs liability is greater than the amount of RINs earned and purchased in a given period and in Prepaid expenses and other current assets when the amount of RINs earned and purchased is greater than the RINs liability. In addition, the Company is subject to obligations to comply with federal and state legislative and regulatory measures to address environmental compliance and greenhouse gas and other emissions, including AB32 in California. These requirements include incremental costs to operate and maintain our facilities as well as to implement and manage new emission controls and programs, which have contributed to the increase in accrued environmental liabilities and emission obligations following the Torrance Acquisition. Renewable energy credit and emissions obligations fluctuate with the volume of applicable product sales and timing of credit purchases.