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 launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers amidst market issues that some may be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has introduced audits over the previous year, however decreased to determine the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and environment subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been mounting that some products labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The concern came into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

The started after the firm upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel producers seeking to make credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has performed audits of sustainable fuel producers given that July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the locations that used cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to talk about ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed vigorous standards to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is important that the very same examination 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 prompted the administration to leave out 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)