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

Roland Gagner edited this page 2025-01-14 00:58:30 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two eco-friendly fuel producers amid industry issues that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has launched audits over the past year, however declined to identify the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew 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 actually been installing that some supplies labeled as used cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation 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 quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits started after the agency updated domestic supply-chain in July 2023 for renewable fuel manufacturers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has actually performed audits of sustainable fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an assessment of the locations that used cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually created energetic requirements to validate, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the same analysis 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 exclude imported feedstocks like UCO from an additional tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)