1 US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used Cooking Oil Supply

Chun Vue edited this page 2025-01-11 10:40:33 -05:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually launched investigations into the supply chains of at least two renewable fuel manufacturers amid industry concerns that some may be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has launched audits over the previous year, but decreased to determine the companies targeted since the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, 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 been installing that some products identified as utilized cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The concern entered focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits started after the firm upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel producers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has actually conducted audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the areas that used cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to talk about continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous standards to verify, not just trust, American producers, and it is essential that the very same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 advised the administration to exclude imported feedstocks 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)