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 examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of two sustainable fuel manufacturers amid industry concerns that some might be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually launched audits over the previous year, but decreased to determine the because the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude 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 worries have been mounting that some products identified as used cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The problem came into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has actually carried out audits of renewable fuel producers given that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to talk about ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has created energetic standards to validate, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is vital that the same scrutiny is applied 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 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)