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

Jaxon Zielinski edited this page 2025-01-13 06:20:39 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched investigations into the supply chains of at least two eco-friendly fuel producers in the middle of market issues that some might be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding government aids.

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

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

The problem entered focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits started after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel producers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has actually carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel producers considering that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the locations that used cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous requirements to verify, not simply trust, American producers, and it is vital that the 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 agencies.

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