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RSB issues new guidance on how US corn and soy producers can achieve certification for sustainable aviation fuel using the records and data they already hold.
US corn and soy farmers selling their feedstock for the production for sustainable aviation fuel already hold a great deal of sustainability and traceability data. The difficulty has never been the absence of evidence at a farm level, but rather how to leverage the already existing data and evidence generated across various federal and state programmes, farm records and regulatory filings built for other purposes, and demonstrating it again against an international certification standard without duplicated effort. The new RSB guidance addresses that problem directly.
The RSB Guideline: Scaling Certification of Sustainable Aviation Fuel in the U.S. Context sets out how RSB certification applies to US corn and soy feedstock production, providing a set of US-specific certification indicators that draw on data operators already produce. The guidance clarifies how the RSB Principles and Criteria are met in the US regulatory and operational context, so that existing documentation can serve as evidence rather than being reproduced in a separate form. Neither the requirements nor the strength of the certification changes; what changes is the effort needed to demonstrate them.
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What the guidance does
The core of the guidance is the recognition of alignment between RSB certification requirements and existing US federal and state obligations. Where a producer already documents compliance through an established programme, that documentation can stand as primary evidence for the corresponding RSB requirement. Farm-level examples set out in the guidance include FSA registration, NRCS conservation plans and CPA-52 environmental evaluation worksheets, OSHA safety records and RFS pathway data. Without the need to generate new information solely for certification, operators map what they hold against the relevant requirements.
These US indicators are delivered through an RSB Checklist Tool, which maps each RSB Principle, Criterion and Requirement to the corresponding US-specific evidence, filtered by audit type, operator type, feedstock type and country. Auditors work from clearly defined, US-specific evidence requirements, which supports consistency and transparency across audits. The indicators have been calibrated so that, while adapted to US conditions, they deliver an assurance level equivalent to the RSB global criteria and maintain the integrity of the RSB system. Evidence requirements remain proportionate to the level of risk identified through RSB screening.
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Who it applies to
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The guidance covers agricultural feedstock producers in the US, specifically corn and soy farmers, processors and agregators, and the operators along the SAF supply chain that follow them. It applies to individual farms, group certification models, aggregators and industrial operators managing multiple feedstock sources. It is developed primarily for the RSB CORSIA and RSB Global Fuels certification schemes, and can also support operators demonstrating compliance with EU RED sustainability requirements for eligible feedstocks, by identifying US-specific evidence relevant to the RSB Principles and Criteria.
The proportionate, risk-based approach is designed to reflect how US operations work at a practical level. For group certification, a master environmental and social management plan at operator level, combined with individual plans per farm or group of similar farms, is accepted, with the group manager acting as the focal point for compliance. For most US corn and soy, which is rain-fed, water requirements can be addressed through standard agronomic practice without additional withdrawal permits or extensive monitoring, unless screening identifies a specific risk. For operators, this streamlines the route to certification by working from the documentation they already keep.
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Why recognition matters for US operators
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Certification carries weight in proportion to where it is recognised. RSB certification is recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) under CORSIA, which allows RSB-certified US feedstock to be used by international SAF supply chains meeting mandatory emissions reduction obligations. Recognition of this kind is what connects a US producer to export markets that require adherence to global sustainability benchmarks.
The guidance also reflects the direction of US policy. The federal Clean Fuel Production Credit and the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard both reference the RSB standard, and the US indicators are designed to complement federal and state programmes rather than sit apart from them. The guidance was developed through workshops convened by RSB with project partners including the National Corn Growers Association and the United Soybean Board, whose input identified the duplication of data collection as a central obstacle for US farmers pursuing certification.
For a producer weighing whether certification is worth the effort, the relevant point is that credible, independently verified evidence is increasingly what buyers and investors require before they accept a feedstock claim, and that this guidance is built to produce that evidence from data the operation already generates.
For a producer weighing whether certification is worth the effort, the relevant point is that credible, independently verified evidence is increasingly what buyers and investors require before they accept a feedstock claim, and that this guidance is built to produce that evidence from data the operation already generates. .
How to access the guidance
The RSB Guideline: Scaling Certification of Sustainable Aviation Fuel in the U.S. Context is available to download from here. Operators preparing for certification are encouraged to request access to the RSB Checklist Tool and discuss how the US indicators apply to their operation, by contacting the RSB Certification team at certification@rsb.org.
The guidance was shaped with US stakeholders, including the National Corn Growers Association and the United Soybean Board.
This Guideline is currently available in its Version 1.0. RSB applies the continuous improvement principle and is open to feedback from US operators about this tool. If you would like to share feedback with RSB about this tool, please submit it here.
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The post RSB Certification for US corn and soy, built around existing farm data appeared first on RSB.
