By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least two renewable fuel producers amidst market issues that some might be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable government aids.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually launched audits over the past year, however decreased to determine the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are continuous.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable 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 worries have actually been mounting that some supplies identified as used cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other ecological damage.
The issue entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have actually said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the .
The EPA audits began after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel producers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has actually performed audits of renewable fuel producers given that July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an examination of the locations that used cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement examinations."
U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal companies need to be as rigorous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually produced energetic standards to validate, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is important that the exact same examination is applied 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 Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre-owned Cooking Oil Supply
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