By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has introduced investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers amid market issues that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure profitable federal government aids.
EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually released audits over the previous year, however declined to identify the business targeted because the examinations are ongoing.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude of state and federal ecological and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been mounting that some products identified as used cooking oil are actually cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with deforestation and other ecological damage.
The issue came into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.
The EPA audits started after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel producers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.
"EPA has actually performed audits of renewable fuel producers given that July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal companies must be as rigorous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic requirements to verify, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential that the exact same analysis is used to imported feedstocks," six 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 leave out 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)
