ACCRUED EXPENSES

Accrued expenses consisted of the following:



	September 30, 2018		December 31, 2017
Inventory-related accruals	$	1,451,142	$	1,151,810
Inventory intermediation agreements	254,022		244,287
Excise and sales tax payable	122,405		118,515
Accrued transportation costs	56,167		64,400
Accrued salaries and benefits	55,366		58,589
Renewable energy credit and emissions obligations	32,753		26,231
Accrued utilities	32,371		42,189
Accrued interest	28,934		9,466
Accrued capital expenditures	25,997		17,342
Accrued refinery maintenance and support costs	23,147		35,674
Customer deposits	20,583		16,133
Environmental liabilities	6,737		7,968
Other	20,144		8,255
Total accrued expenses	$	2,129,768	$	1,800,859

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 Inventory Intermediation Agreements with J. Aron. As of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, a liability is recognized for the Inventory Intermediation Agreements and is recorded at market price for the J. Aron owned inventory held in the Company’s storage tanks under the Inventory 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 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 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, including regulations in the state of California pursuant to Assembly Bill 32 (“AB32”), to address environmental compliance and greenhouse gas and other emissions. These requirements include incremental costs to operate and maintain our facilities as well as to implement and manage new emission controls and programs. Renewable energy credit and emissions obligations fluctuate with the volume of applicable product sales and timing of credit purchases.

Early Return of Railcars

On September 30, 2018, the Company agreed to voluntarily return a portion of railcars under an operating lease in order to rationalize certain components of its railcar fleet based on prevailing market conditions in the crude oil by rail market. Under the terms of the lease amendment, the Company will pay agreed amounts in lieu of satisfaction of return conditions (the “early termination penalty”) and will pay a reduced rental fee over the remaining term of the lease. Certain of these railcars are idle and the remaining railcars will be taken out of service during the fourth quarter of 2018 and subsequently fully returned to the lessor. As a result, the Company recognized an expense of $44,571 for the three months ended September 30, 2018 included within Cost of sales consisting of (i) a $40,313 charge for the early termination penalty and (ii) a $4,258 charge related to the remaining lease payments associated with the portion of railcars within the amended lease, that were idled and out of service as of September 30, 2018. The Company has recorded a liability within Inventory-related accruals (included within Accrued expenses) for $25,843 representing the amount of the early lease termination obligation expected to be paid within the next twelve months and a liability within Other long-term liabilities for $18,728 representing the remaining amount of the obligation.