By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 eco-friendly fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry issues that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding federal government aids.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually launched audits over the past year, but declined to identify the business targeted since the investigations are ongoing.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and climate aids, credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been installing that some materials identified as utilized cooking oil are really cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to logging and other environmental damage.
The concern came into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have actually said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.
The EPA audits began after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel manufacturers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has conducted audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers given that July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are unable to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal agencies should be as strenuous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous requirements to verify, not just trust, American producers, and it is imperative that the exact same examination is applied 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 urged 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)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre owned Cooking Oil Supply
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