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

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched examinations into the supply chains of at least two eco-friendly fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry issues that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has released audits over the past year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted since the examinations are continuous.

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

The problem entered into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits started after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel producers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the locations that used cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to go over continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has produced vigorous standards to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential that the same analysis is used to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

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