By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually released investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two renewable fuel producers amid market issues that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding government subsidies.
Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has launched audits over the past year, but decreased to determine the business targeted since the investigations are continuous.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal ecological and environment subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been mounting that some materials labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with logging and other environmental damage.
The problem came into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.
The EPA audits began after the firm upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel manufacturers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he said.
"EPA has actually conducted audits of renewable fuel producers considering that July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an evaluation of the areas that used cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal agencies must be as strenuous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has produced vigorous standards to verify, not simply trust, American producers, and it is essential that the exact 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 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)
1
US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre owned Cooking Oil Supply
Adelaida Cloutier edited this page 1 month ago