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 launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two eco-friendly fuel manufacturers amidst industry issues that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually introduced audits over the past year, but decreased to identify the companies targeted because the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been mounting that some products identified as used cooking oil are in fact less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The concern entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have actually said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits began after the firm 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 conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers because July 2023 which consists of, among other things, an assessment of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually created vigorous standards to confirm, not just trust, American producers, and it is essential that the exact same examination 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 omit imported feedstocks like UCO from an additional tidy fuel program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)