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 launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 renewable fuel manufacturers amid market concerns that some may be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has actually launched audits over the previous year, but declined to identify the since the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized 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 actually been installing that some materials labeled as used cooking oil are really more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The issue entered focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.

The EPA audits started after the agency upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel manufacturers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an assessment of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous requirements to validate, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is necessary that the exact same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

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 Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)