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

Jeramy Bury edited this page 2025-01-12 20:03:54 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually launched examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel producers amid industry concerns that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually launched audits over the past year, however decreased to determine the business targeted because the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal environmental 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 supplies identified as used cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The issue came into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.

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

"EPA has actually performed audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers since July 2023 which consists of, amongst other things, an examination of the places that used cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are not able to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic requirements to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is crucial that the very same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged the administration to leave out 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)