1 US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used Cooking Oil Supply
rodrickbabin89 edited this page 3 months ago


By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry concerns that some might be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative .

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has actually launched audits over the previous year, however decreased to identify the business targeted because the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew 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 materials labeled as used cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.

The concern entered focus following a rise 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 cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams concerns.

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

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

U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal companies should be as extensive in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous requirements to validate, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential that the same examination is used to imported feedstocks," six 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 urged 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)