By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel manufacturers amidst market concerns that some might be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding government subsidies.
EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually released audits over the previous year, however declined to identify the companies targeted because the investigations are continuous.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some materials labeled as used cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other environmental damage.
The problem entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise over the fraud concerns.
The EPA audits began after the agency updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel producers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has actually carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel producers considering that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to go over continuous enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal agencies ought to be as rigorous in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic standards to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is imperative that the very same scrutiny 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 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)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Secondhand Cooking Oil Supply
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