1 US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre owned 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 two eco-friendly fuel manufacturers amid market issues that some may be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told that the company has actually released audits over the past year, but declined to identify the business targeted since the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been installing that some supplies labeled as used cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to deforestation and other environmental damage.

The issue came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits began after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel manufacturers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers given that July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an evaluation of the locations that used cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, however, are ongoing and we are not able to discuss continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually created energetic requirements to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is necessary that the exact same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

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