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

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. Epa has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least two eco-friendly fuel producers amidst market concerns that some might be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually introduced audits over the previous year, but declined to determine the business targeted because the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used 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 been mounting that some products labeled as used cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.

The issue entered into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams concerns.

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

« EPA has actually carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the places that used cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered, » he said. « These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations. »

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

« The Biden administration has created vigorous standards to confirm, 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 companies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged the administration to omit imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)