1 US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre-owned Cooking Oil Supply

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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel producers amid market concerns that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has launched audits over the past year, but decreased to recognize the business targeted because the examinations are continuous.

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 worries have been installing that some materials labeled as used cooking oil are actually cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other ecological damage.

The concern entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in current years that experts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits started after the agency 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 performed audits of eco-friendly fuel producers given that July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an evaluation of the locations that used cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement examinations."

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

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

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