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. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel producers in the middle of industry issues that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has introduced audits over the previous year, however declined to identify the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a variety 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 fears have been mounting that some products labeled as utilized cooking oil are in fact less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The issue entered focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams concerns.

The EPA audits began after the firm 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 conducted audits of sustainable fuel producers because July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an examination of the places that used cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has created vigorous requirements to verify, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is crucial that the same analysis is used to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

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