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

Vallie Ruggles edited this page 3 months ago

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two eco-friendly fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry concerns that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually introduced audits over the past year, however decreased to recognize the business targeted due to the fact that the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been mounting that some materials identified as used cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The issue came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have actually said high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has carried out audits of sustainable fuel producers because July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the locations that used cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous requirements to confirm, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the exact same scrutiny 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 advised the administration to exclude 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)