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

Mariel Van Otterloo edited this page 21 hours ago

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually launched investigations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel producers amidst industry issues that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has launched audits over the past year, however declined to recognize the business targeted since the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn a slew of state and federal ecological and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been mounting that some supplies labeled as utilized cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.

The concern entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits began after the agency updated 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 eco-friendly fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an examination of the places 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 ongoing 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 standards to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is vital that the same examination is applied to imported feedstocks," six 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 prompted 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)