By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of two renewable fuel producers in the middle of market issues that some might be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure profitable government aids.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has introduced audits over the previous year, but decreased to determine the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and environment subsidies, including 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 actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.
The issue came into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and in the area. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.
The EPA audits began 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 sustainable fuel manufacturers given that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the locations that used cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to talk about ongoing enforcement examinations."
U.S. senators from farm states have called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal firms ought to be as extensive in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually created vigorous standards to verify, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal firms.
Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged the administration to leave out imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra clean fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used Cooking Oil Supply
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