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

Gina Rascoe edited this page 2025-01-18 14:04:42 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released investigations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel manufacturers amid market issues that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has launched audits over the past year, but declined to identify the business targeted because the investigations are continuous.

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

The concern came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that analysts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was collected," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to discuss continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed energetic requirements to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is vital that the same analysis is used 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 exclude 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)