1

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

Anton Nickerson edited this page 2025-01-12 06:09:57 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually released investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two eco-friendly fuel manufacturers amidst industry concerns that some might be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has actually released audits over the past year, but declined to the business targeted since the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been installing that some materials identified as used cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.

The issue entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in current 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 also investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 which consists of, amongst other things, an examination of the areas that used cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to talk about continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous requirements to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is vital that the very same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote 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 clean fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)