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

Aliza Wren edited this page 2 weeks ago

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 eco-friendly fuel producers amid industry issues that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure profitable federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually launched audits over the previous year, but declined to recognize the business targeted due to the fact that the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal ecological and climate aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been installing that some products labeled as utilized cooking oil are in fact less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The problem came into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.

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

"EPA has actually performed audits of sustainable fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an evaluation of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to go over continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has created energetic requirements to confirm, not simply trust, American producers, and it is imperative that the exact same analysis is used to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 advised the administration to exclude 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)