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

Antwan Delaney edited this page 2025-01-18 20:00:44 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel manufacturers amidst industry concerns that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has launched audits over the past year, however declined to determine the business targeted since the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and climate aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been installing that some products labeled as utilized cooking oil are really more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The issue entered into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.

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

"EPA has actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers because July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an examination of the places that used cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to go over continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous requirements to verify, not just trust, American producers, and it is vital that the very same examination 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 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 Matthew Lewis)