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 released investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers amid market concerns that some might be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative federal government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually launched audits over the past year, however declined to determine the companies targeted since the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some materials identified as utilized cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The problem came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have actually said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has conducted audits of sustainable fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the places that used cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually created energetic standards to confirm, not just trust, American producers, and it is essential that the very same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

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