By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers in the middle of market concerns that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative government subsidies.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually launched audits over the previous year, however declined to recognize the companies targeted because the examinations are continuous.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety 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 used cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with logging and other ecological damage.
The problem entered into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams concerns.
The EPA audits began after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel producers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.
"EPA has actually performed audits of sustainable fuel producers because July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the areas that used cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he stated. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies ought to be as extensive in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually created energetic requirements to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential that the exact same analysis 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 advised the administration to leave out 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)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used Cooking Oil Supply
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