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 released examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry concerns that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative federal government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually launched audits over the past year, however decreased to recognize the business targeted since the investigations are ongoing.

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

The concern entered into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits began after the agency updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel manufacturers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has actually performed audits of renewable fuel producers considering that July 2023 which consists of, amongst other things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous requirements to validate, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is vital that the exact same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," six 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 omit imported feedstocks like UCO from an additional tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)