By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of two sustainable fuel producers in the middle of industry issues that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable government subsidies.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually launched audits over the previous year, but declined to recognize the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are ongoing.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some products identified as utilized cooking oil are in fact less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.
The issue came into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.
The EPA audits began after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel manufacturers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has carried out audits of renewable fuel producers since July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an assessment of the places that utilized cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are unable to go over ongoing enforcement examinations."
U.S. senators from farm states have called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies should be as strenuous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has produced vigorous requirements to confirm, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the same scrutiny is used 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 leave out like UCO from an extra tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre owned Cooking Oil Supply
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