By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry concerns that some might be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding federal government aids.
EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has launched audits over the past year, but decreased to determine the companies targeted because the examinations are continuous.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized 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 materials labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.
The concern entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.
The EPA audits started after the firm upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel manufacturers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has actually performed audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 which includes, among other things, an assessment of the locations that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to talk about ongoing enforcement examinations."
U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal agencies should be as extensive in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has created vigorous requirements to confirm, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is necessary that the exact 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 urged the administration to exclude 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)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre owned Cooking Oil Supply
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