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

Hattie Andrew edited this page 2025-01-11 14:05:13 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of two eco-friendly fuel producers amid market concerns that some might be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually over the previous year, however declined to identify the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew 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 installing that some products identified as utilized cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other environmental damage.

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

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

"EPA has performed audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are not able to go over ongoing enforcement examinations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal firms need to be as strenuous in confirming 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 necessary that the very same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 advised the administration to leave out imported feedstocks like UCO from an additional clean fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)