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

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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 eco-friendly fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry issues that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually released audits over the previous year, but declined to determine the companies targeted since the examinations are continuous.

The production of from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude 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 products labeled as used cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The issue entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has actually conducted audits of renewable fuel producers because July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an examination of the locations that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to talk about ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic requirements to validate, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is vital that the very same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote 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 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)