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. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of two renewable fuel producers amidst market concerns that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has released audits over the previous year, but declined to identify the companies targeted since the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and environment subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been installing that some as utilized cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The concern entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in current years that experts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits started after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel producers seeking to make credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has actually performed audits of renewable fuel manufacturers given that July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an examination of the places that used cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are unable to discuss ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually created vigorous standards to verify, not simply trust, American producers, and it is necessary 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 urged the administration to exclude 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)