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

Monica Shepherd edited this page 2025-01-14 00:56:26 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched investigations into the supply chains of at least two renewable fuel manufacturers amid industry concerns that some may be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative government subsidies.

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

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and climate aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been mounting that some products labeled as used cooking oil are in fact less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other environmental damage.

The problem entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.

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

"EPA has actually carried out audits of renewable fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, however, are ongoing and we are not able to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal firms need to be as extensive in validating imports as they are auditing chains.

"The Biden administration has created vigorous standards to validate, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is vital that the same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," six 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)