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

Genia Mckenney edited this page 2025-01-12 02:01:39 +03:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually released investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two eco-friendly fuel manufacturers amidst industry concerns that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has actually released audits over the previous year, however declined to determine the business targeted because the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been mounting that some supplies labeled as utilized cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The concern entered into focus following a rise 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 recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has actually carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 which consists of, among other things, an assessment of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies must be as strenuous in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has created vigorous requirements to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is important that the very 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 firms.

Another letter from 15 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)