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

Yvonne Clouse edited this page 2025-01-14 03:17:40 +03:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually released examinations into the of a minimum of 2 renewable fuel producers amid industry issues that some may be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually launched audits over the previous year, however decreased to determine the business targeted since the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a variety 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 fears have actually been installing that some materials labeled as used cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The issue entered focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.

The EPA audits began after the agency updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel producers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has actually carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 which consists of, amongst other things, an evaluation of the locations that used cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, however, are ongoing and we are not able to talk about ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has produced vigorous requirements to verify, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is vital that the same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks," six 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 advised 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)