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1 US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Secondhand Cooking Oil Supply

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 eco-friendly fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry concerns that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable federal government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually launched audits over the past year, however decreased to identify the companies targeted since the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety 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 actually been mounting that some products labeled as used cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The concern entered into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits began after the firm upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel manufacturers seeking to make credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has conducted audits of renewable fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an examination of the locations that used cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal firms need to be as rigorous in confirming imports as they are supply chains.

"The Biden administration has produced vigorous requirements to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is important that the very same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," six 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 clean fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)