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

Jill Vanburen edited this page 2025-01-11 17:55:02 -06:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched investigations into the of at least 2 renewable fuel manufacturers amid market issues that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has launched audits over the previous year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and climate aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been installing that some materials identified as used cooking oil are in fact less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The problem entered focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts 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 fraud concerns.

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 carried out audits of renewable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, among other things, an assessment of the areas that used cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually created vigorous requirements to verify, not just trust, American producers, and it is crucial that the same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 prompted 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)