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

Kelli Gargett edited this page 2025-01-12 19:04:43 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched investigations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel producers amid market issues that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has introduced audits over the previous year, but declined to identify the companies targeted since the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and climate aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some as used cooking oil are actually cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.

The concern entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits started after the agency updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel manufacturers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has performed audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers since July 2023 which consists of, among other things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to go over ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually created energetic requirements to confirm, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is crucial that the exact 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 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)