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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released examinations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel producers amidst industry issues that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually introduced audits over the past year, but declined to identify the business targeted due to the fact that the investigations are ongoing.

The of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been installing that some products labeled as utilized cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.

The concern entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.

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

"EPA has actually carried out audits of renewable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 which includes, amongst other things, an evaluation of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to go over continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous standards to confirm, not just trust, American producers, and it is vital that the exact same examination is used to imported feedstocks," six 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 prompted the administration to leave out 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)