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

Leora Castanon edited this page 2025-01-18 07:08:41 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 renewable fuel manufacturers amid market concerns that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable federal government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually launched audits over the previous year, however declined to identify the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some products labeled as used cooking oil are really cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The issue entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. 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 earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has performed audits of sustainable fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the places that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to talk about continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has produced vigorous standards to confirm, not just trust, American producers, and it is vital 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 firms.

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