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 sustainable fuel producers amidst market issues that some might be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable federal government subsidies.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has released audits over the past year, but declined to identify the companies targeted because the are ongoing.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been installing that some supplies labeled as used cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other ecological damage.
The problem entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have actually stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.
The EPA audits started after the agency upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel producers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he said.
"EPA has performed audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an assessment 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 not able to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal companies ought to be as rigorous in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has created energetic requirements to verify, not just trust, American producers, and it is crucial 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 companies.
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
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