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

Valorie Iverson edited this page 2025-01-12 17:38:35 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel producers in the middle of market concerns that some might be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually released audits over the previous 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 multitude of state and federal environmental and environment aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been installing that some supplies identified as utilized cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with logging and other ecological damage.

The issue entered focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have actually said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has conducted audits of renewable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the locations that used cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous standards to confirm, not just trust, American producers, and it is imperative that the same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 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 leave out 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)