1 US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used Cooking Oil Supply

Simon Tisdale edited this page 2025-01-11 15:37:26 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of two sustainable fuel producers amid market concerns that some may be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually released audits over the past year, but declined to determine the business targeted because the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been installing that some products identified as used cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.

The concern entered into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.

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

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

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

"The Biden administration has actually created vigorous requirements to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is crucial that the very same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

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