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

Ambrose Myles edited this page 2025-01-12 02:15:34 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched investigations into the supply chains of at least two eco-friendly fuel producers amid market issues that some might be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative federal government aids.

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

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and climate subsidies, 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 identified as used cooking oil are really more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The problem came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.

The EPA audits began after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel manufacturers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has carried out audits of renewable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an examination of the places that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies ought to be as rigorous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has produced energetic requirements to validate, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

Another letter from 15 senators 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)