By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two renewable fuel manufacturers amidst industry concerns that some might be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding federal government subsidies.
EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has introduced audits over the previous year, however declined to identify the companies targeted because the investigations are ongoing.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and climate aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some products identified as utilized cooking oil are really cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other ecological damage.
The problem entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in current years that experts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.
The EPA audits started after the firm updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers given that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the locations that used cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies need to be as strenuous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has created vigorous standards to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is important that the very 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 firms.
Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 prompted the administration to omit imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra clean 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' used Cooking Oil Supply
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