By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually released examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 eco-friendly fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry issues that some may be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding government aids.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has actually launched audits over the previous year, but declined to recognize the business targeted since the are ongoing.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a variety 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 worries have actually been mounting that some materials labeled as utilized cooking oil are really more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with deforestation and other ecological damage.
The issue entered into focus following a rise 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 recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise 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 seeking to make credits under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has actually conducted audits of renewable fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, among other things, an assessment of the locations that used cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to talk about ongoing enforcement examinations."
U.S. senators from farm states have called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies should be as strenuous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic standards to confirm, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the exact same examination is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 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 omit 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)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre owned Cooking Oil Supply
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