mission-newenergy-limited

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers amid industry issues that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure profitable government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually introduced audits over the previous year, however declined to identify the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and climate aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some products labeled as used cooking oil are really cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to logging and other ecological damage.

The problem entered focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits began after the firm updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel manufacturers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an examination of the places that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to discuss continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually produced energetic standards to confirm, not simply trust, American producers, and it is vital that the very same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 advised 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 Lewis)