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

Lea Waldon edited this page 2025-01-11 12:18:50 +01:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel producers amidst industry issues that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable federal government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has launched audits over the past year, however decreased to identify the business targeted since the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and environment subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some materials identified as utilized cooking oil are actually cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with logging and other ecological damage.

The concern entered into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.

The EPA audits started after the firm upgraded domestic supply-chain in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel producers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers given that July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an evaluation of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are unable to talk about continuous enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal agencies must be as rigorous in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has actually created vigorous requirements to validate, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is important that the exact same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 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 urged the administration to omit imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)