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

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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel producers in the middle of market issues that some might be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has launched audits over the previous year, however declined to identify the business targeted because the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and environment aids, consisting of 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 used cooking oil are really more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The issue came into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has performed audits of renewable fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the places that used cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are unable to discuss ongoing enforcement examinations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies should be as rigorous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has actually created energetic requirements to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is crucial that the same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged the administration to exclude 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)