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

Georgina Totten edited this page 1 week ago

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two renewable fuel manufacturers amid market concerns that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has introduced audits over the previous year, but declined to recognize the companies targeted since the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and climate aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been that some materials labeled as utilized cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other environmental damage.

The problem entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits began after the firm updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel manufacturers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has actually performed audits of sustainable fuel producers since July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an examination of the places that used cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal firms ought to be as strenuous 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 vital that the exact same examination is used to imported feedstocks," 6 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 prompted the administration to exclude 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)