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. Agency has introduced investigations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel manufacturers amidst industry concerns that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually released audits over the past year, but decreased to recognize the companies targeted since the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and environment aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been mounting that some products identified as utilized cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.

The problem came into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits began after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel producers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has actually conducted audits of renewable fuel producers considering that July 2023 that includes, among other things, an evaluation of the locations that used cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are not able to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic standards to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is important that the exact same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

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)