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

Brook Laurantus edited this page 2025-01-12 02:28:09 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually released investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel producers in the middle of market concerns that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually released audits over the past year, but declined to identify the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and environment subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some supplies labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.

The concern entered focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has conducted audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, among other things, an assessment of the places that used cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous standards to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is important that the exact same analysis is applied 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 exclude imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra clean fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)