1 US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used 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 at least two sustainable fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry concerns that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for to protect profitable federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually released audits over the previous year, however decreased to identify the companies targeted because the examinations are ongoing.

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

The problem entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud issues.

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

"EPA has actually carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel producers because July 2023 which consists of, amongst other things, an assessment of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to talk about continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually produced energetic requirements to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is essential that the same examination is applied to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

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