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

Jude Pavy edited this page 4 weeks ago

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually released investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel producers amid industry issues that some may be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has launched audits over the previous year, but declined to identify the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some materials identified as used cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.

The concern entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits began after the firm updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel producers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has performed audits of renewable fuel producers because July 2023 that includes, among other things, an examination of the locations that used cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was collected," he said. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal companies ought to be as strenuous in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous requirements to validate, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is necessary that the exact same analysis is used to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged the administration to leave out imported feedstocks like UCO from an additional tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)