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. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of two renewable fuel manufacturers amidst industry issues that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has actually introduced audits over the previous year, however declined to identify the companies targeted because the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and climate aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some supplies identified as used cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The problem entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has performed audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers given that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing 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 firms need to be as extensive in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has created vigorous standards to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is imperative that the 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 companies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged the administration to exclude imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)