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. Agency has released investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two sustainable fuel producers in the middle of industry issues that some might be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has actually launched audits over the past year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted since the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and environment subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been mounting that some supplies labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other environmental damage.

The concern entered focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.

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

"EPA has actually conducted audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an examination of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These investigations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed energetic standards to verify, not just trust, American producers, and it is crucial that the same examination is used to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

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