By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel manufacturers amidst market concerns that some may be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding federal government aids.
EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually introduced audits over the previous year, but declined to recognize the business targeted due to the fact that the investigations are ongoing.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and climate 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 used cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.
The issue entered into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.
The EPA audits began after the company updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel producers seeking to under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel producers given that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the areas that used cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal agencies should be as rigorous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic standards to validate, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is crucial that the exact same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal companies.
Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged 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)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used Cooking Oil Supply
Keith Dorsett edited this page 2025-01-11 18:07:42 +00:00