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

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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched examinations into the supply chains of at least two eco-friendly fuel manufacturers amidst industry issues that some might be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually released audits over the previous year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been installing that some products identified as used cooking oil are really more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other ecological damage.

The concern came into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has performed audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an assessment of the places that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous standards to confirm, not just trust, American producers, and it is essential that the same examination is applied to imported feedstocks," six 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 prompted the administration to omit 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)