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

Daniella Bieber edited this page 2025-01-12 05:26:33 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel producers amid industry concerns that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative federal government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has actually launched audits over the past year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been installing 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 rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has actually conducted audits of renewable fuel producers because July 2023 which consists of, amongst other things, an assessment of the areas that used cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to go over continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed vigorous requirements to confirm, not simply trust, American producers, and it is important that the exact same examination is used to imported feedstocks," six 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 leave out imported feedstocks like UCO from an additional tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)