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

Ramiro Tait edited this page 2025-01-19 12:45:09 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually released investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 eco-friendly fuel manufacturers amidst industry concerns that some may be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has actually released audits over the previous year, but decreased to identify the companies targeted since the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been installing that some materials identified as used cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The concern came into focus following a rise in oil exports from Asia in current years that analysts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the fraud issues.

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

"EPA has carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers because July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the places that used cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are unable to talk about continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous requirements to verify, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the exact same analysis is used to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

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