1 US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used Cooking Oil Supply

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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced investigations into the supply chains of at least two eco-friendly fuel producers in the middle of industry issues that some may be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure profitable federal government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has actually introduced audits over the past year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and environment aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been installing that some materials labeled as used cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with logging and other ecological damage.

The concern entered focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits began after the domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel producers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has performed audits of renewable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an assessment of the places that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal agencies need to be as strenuous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous standards to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the exact same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 prompted the administration to omit imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra clean fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)