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

Sheila Countryman edited this page 2 months ago

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched examinations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel producers amidst industry issues that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has released audits over the previous year, however declined to determine the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been mounting that some supplies labeled as used cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with logging and other ecological damage.

The concern entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recovered in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has actually performed audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers since July 2023 that includes, among other things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic requirements to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is crucial that the very same scrutiny 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 advised the to leave out imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)