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

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least two eco-friendly fuel producers amid industry issues that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has actually released audits over the previous year, however decreased to identify the business targeted because the examinations are ongoing.

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

The problem came into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently 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 also examining feedstocks over the fraud issues.

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

"EPA has actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers because July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal companies should be as extensive in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has created vigorous standards to confirm, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential that the very same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 advised the administration to exclude 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)