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. Epa has actually launched examinations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel producers amid industry issues that some may be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has introduced audits over the previous year, but decreased to recognize the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude 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 been installing that some products labeled as used cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The problem entered focus following a surge in used 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 recovered in the area. 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 sustainable fuel manufacturers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has actually performed audits of renewable fuel manufacturers given that July 2023 which includes, amongst other things, an assessment of the locations that used cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was collected," he said. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are unable to go over ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic requirements to verify, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is crucial that the same examination is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 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 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)