By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released investigations into the of at least two renewable fuel manufacturers amidst market issues that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure profitable federal government aids.
EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has released audits over the previous year, however decreased to recognize the business targeted since the examinations are continuous.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been mounting that some materials identified 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 issue came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.
The EPA audits started after the agency updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel producers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers considering that July 2023 which includes, amongst other things, an examination of the places that used cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are not able to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies ought to be as extensive in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has developed vigorous requirements to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is crucial that the very same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal firms.
Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged the administration to leave out imported feedstocks like UCO from an additional clean 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' used Cooking Oil Supply
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