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

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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel producers in the middle of market concerns that some might be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has introduced audits over the past year, but decreased to determine the business targeted because the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and environment subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been that some supplies labeled as used cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The issue entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has actually carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an evaluation of the areas that used cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are not able to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed vigorous requirements to validate, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is crucial that the same analysis 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 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)