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

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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two sustainable fuel producers amidst industry issues that some may be feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative federal government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has actually released audits over the previous year, but declined to identify the business targeted because the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and climate aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some products identified as used cooking oil are actually cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The issue entered focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers considering that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed vigorous standards to verify, not simply trust, American producers, and it is important that the exact same scrutiny is used 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 advised the administration to omit 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)