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

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 eco-friendly fuel manufacturers in the middle of market concerns that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has released audits over the past year, however declined to determine the companies targeted since the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude 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 mounting that some supplies labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The issue entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in current years that analysts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.

The EPA audits began after the agency upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel producers seeking to make credits under the RFS, he said.

“EPA has actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered,” he stated. “These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations.”

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

“The Biden administration has actually created vigorous requirements to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is important that the very same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks,” six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 prompted 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 Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)