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. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 eco-friendly fuel producers amidst industry issues that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has launched audits over the previous year, but decreased to determine the business targeted since the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and environment aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been installing that some products labeled as utilized cooking oil are really cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with logging and other ecological damage.

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

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

"EPA has actually performed audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an examination of the locations that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he said. "These examinations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to go over continuous enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying need to be as rigorous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has developed vigorous standards to confirm, not simply trust, American producers, and it is important that the same examination is used to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

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