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

Sheena Rodgers edited this page 2025-01-17 23:08:34 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually released investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel producers in the middle of market issues that some may be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually launched audits over the past year, however decreased to determine the companies targeted because the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been mounting that some materials labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.

The concern came into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that experts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.

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

"EPA has conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the areas that used cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed vigorous requirements to confirm, not just trust, American manufacturers, 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, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

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