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 introduced investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 eco-friendly fuel producers in the middle of market concerns that some might be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually introduced audits over the past year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, 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 cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The concern entered focus following a rise in used cooking oil from Asia recently that analysts have stated 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 producers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the places that used cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies ought to be as strenuous in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has actually created vigorous standards to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is necessary that the exact same scrutiny is used 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 leave out 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)