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

Bertie Dewey edited this page 3 months ago

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two sustainable fuel producers amidst industry concerns that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding federal government aids.

EPA representative Landis told Reuters that the company has released audits over the past year, however declined to recognize the business targeted due to the fact that the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some products identified as utilized cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to logging and other ecological damage.

The concern entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has carried out audits of renewable fuel producers considering that July 2023 that includes, among other things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, however, are ongoing and we are not able to talk about continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous requirements to verify, not simply trust, American producers, and it is vital that the very same examination is used 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 advised the administration to omit 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)