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

Winston Donoghue edited this page 2025-01-12 05:56:50 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has released examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel manufacturers amidst market issues that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually introduced audits over the previous year, but decreased to recognize the business targeted because the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and environment subsidies, 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 cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with logging and other environmental damage.

The concern came into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that experts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits began after the firm 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 performed audits of renewable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 which includes, amongst other 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 go over ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous standards to validate, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the same scrutiny 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 prompted 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)