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

Frederic Hartman edited this page 3 weeks ago

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Agency has launched examinations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel producers amidst industry issues that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually released audits over the previous year, however declined to determine the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and environment subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been installing that some supplies labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The concern came into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.

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

"EPA has performed audits of renewable fuel producers because July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to discuss continuous enforcement examinations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal agencies must be as rigorous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has produced energetic requirements to confirm, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is necessary that the very same analysis is used 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 advised the administration to leave out 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)