By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 renewable fuel producers amidst market issues that some might be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative federal government aids.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually launched audits over the previous year, but decreased to recognize the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are ongoing.
The of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been mounting that some products labeled as utilized cooking oil are in fact less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.
The issue entered into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that analysts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the fraud issues.
The EPA audits began after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel producers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.
"EPA has conducted audits of renewable fuel producers since July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These investigations, however, are ongoing and we are not able to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal companies must be as strenuous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has developed vigorous requirements to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is vital that the very same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal firms.
Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged the administration to exclude imported feedstocks like UCO from an additional 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' Secondhand Cooking Oil Supply
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