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

Fallon Mahomet edited this page 2025-01-12 22:46:02 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

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

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has launched audits over the past year, but declined to determine the companies targeted because the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety 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 been installing that some materials identified as utilized cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.

The problem entered into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have actually said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud issues.

The EPA audits started after the firm updated accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel producers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has actually conducted audits of sustainable fuel producers considering that July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an examination of the locations that utilized cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are not able to go over continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous standards to validate, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is crucial that the same examination is used to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

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