US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used Cooking Oil Supply
By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of two eco-friendly fuel producers in the middle of market issues that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding federal government subsidies.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually launched audits over the previous year, but decreased to determine the business targeted because the examinations are ongoing.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been mounting that some supplies identified as used cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.
The problem entered focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.
The EPA audits began after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel manufacturers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.
"EPA has actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers since July 2023 which consists of, amongst other things, an evaluation of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal companies need to be as rigorous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous requirements to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is necessary that the very same examination is used to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal firms.
Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged the administration to omit imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra tidy fuel tax credit passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)