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

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually released examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 eco-friendly fuel producers in the middle of market concerns that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually introduced audits over the past year, but decreased to recognize the companies targeted because the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized 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 supplies identified as utilized cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.

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

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

"EPA has carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers given that July 2023 which consists of, amongst other things, an assessment of the areas that used cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to talk about continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous requirements to verify, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is important that the exact same examination is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged 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)