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 actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 eco-friendly fuel producers in the middle of industry issues that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually launched audits over the previous year, but decreased to recognize the business targeted since the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and climate aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been installing that some supplies identified as utilized cooking oil are actually cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.

The issue came into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits started after the company updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel manufacturers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has actually performed audits of renewable fuel producers because July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an assessment of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to talk about continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed energetic requirements to confirm, not simply trust, American producers, and it is imperative that the exact same examination is applied to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and 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 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)