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

Alton Shapiro edited this page 2025-01-13 09:43:35 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two eco-friendly fuel producers amid industry concerns that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually released audits over the previous year, however decreased to identify the business targeted because the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make 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 installing that some supplies labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The problem entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recovered in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.

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

"EPA has actually carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an examination of the areas that used cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to go over continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed vigorous requirements to verify, not just trust, American producers, and it is crucial that the same analysis is applied 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 urged 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)