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

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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers amidst industry concerns that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually launched audits over the past year, however declined to recognize the companies targeted because the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and climate aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some supplies identified as used cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The problem entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.

The EPA audits started after the agency updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel producers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has actually conducted audits of renewable fuel producers given that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the places that used cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was collected," he said. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are not able to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal agencies must be as strenuous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has developed vigorous standards to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is imperative that the exact same analysis 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 advised 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)