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

Linnea Moonlight edited this page 2025-01-11 23:05:51 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually introduced investigations into the supply chains of at least two eco-friendly amidst market concerns that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually released audits over the previous year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been installing that some supplies labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The concern entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits began after the firm upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel manufacturers seeking to make credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an examination of the locations that used cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are unable to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has produced energetic requirements to confirm, not just trust, American producers, and it is necessary that the very 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 agencies.

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