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 market concerns that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure profitable federal government subsidies.
EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually introduced audits over the previous year, however declined to determine the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are ongoing.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude 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 supplies labeled as used cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.
The concern entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.
The EPA audits began after the agency updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel manufacturers seeking to make credits under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has actually carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers because July 2023 which consists of, amongst other things, an examination of the places that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to talk about continuous enforcement examinations."
U.S. from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies should be as strenuous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has developed vigorous requirements to confirm, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is important that the exact same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," 6 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 prompted 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)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Secondhand Cooking Oil Supply
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