US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers’ Pre-owned Cooking Oil Supply

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually released examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 renewable fuel producers in the middle of industry concerns that some might be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has introduced audits over the past year, however decreased to determine 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, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been installing that some supplies labeled as used cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other environmental damage.

The issue entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil from Asia over the last few years that analysts have stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.

The EPA audits started after the agency upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel manufacturers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.

“EPA has conducted audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the places that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was collected,” he stated. “These investigations, however, are continuous and we are not able to talk about continuous enforcement investigations.”

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

“The Biden administration has developed vigorous requirements to validate, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential that the same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks,” 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 advised the administration to omit 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)