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

Abraham Edmond edited this page 2025-01-12 04:31:09 +08:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 renewable fuel producers in the middle of industry issues that some might be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has launched audits over the past year, but declined to determine the due to the fact that the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been installing that some materials identified as utilized cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The problem came into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits began after the firm updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel manufacturers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has actually carried out audits of renewable fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the places that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, however, are ongoing 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 firms should be as rigorous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has developed vigorous standards to validate, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential that the exact same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged 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)