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

Gita Milano edited this page 2 months ago

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 eco-friendly fuel producers amidst market issues that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure profitable government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually released audits over the past year, however declined to determine the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude of state and federal ecological and environment subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been installing that some products labeled as used cooking oil are actually cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The issue came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits began after the agency upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel producers seeking to make credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually produced energetic standards to confirm, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the exact same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

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