By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel producers amidst market concerns that some may be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative government subsidies.
EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has launched audits over the past year, however declined to identify the companies targeted since the investigations are ongoing.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been installing that some products identified as used cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other .
The problem entered focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in current years that experts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.
The EPA audits began after the agency updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel manufacturers seeking to make credits under the RFS, he said.
"EPA has carried out audits of renewable fuel producers considering that July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement examinations."
U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal agencies must be as extensive in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually produced energetic requirements to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is necessary that the very 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 prompted 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)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre-owned Cooking Oil Supply
Leon Jardine edited this page 2025-01-11 18:32:18 +01:00