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

Sienna Weidner edited this page 2025-01-11 23:39:12 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 eco-friendly fuel producers in the middle of market issues that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure profitable federal .

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has actually released audits over the past year, but declined to determine the business targeted since the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some materials identified as used cooking oil are really cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The concern came into focus following a surge 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 likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud issues.

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

"EPA has actually carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers given that July 2023 that includes, among other things, an examination of the locations that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed energetic standards to verify, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is crucial that the exact 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 firms.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 prompted the administration to omit 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)