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

Parthenia Tressler edited this page 2025-01-12 18:06:09 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually released examinations into the of a minimum of two eco-friendly fuel producers amidst industry concerns that some might be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has released audits over the previous year, but declined to identify the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and environment aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been mounting that some supplies identified as utilized cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.

The issue entered focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have said involves 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 concerns.

The EPA audits started after the agency updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel producers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has carried out audits of renewable fuel producers considering that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal firms ought to be as extensive in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

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

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