By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has introduced investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two eco-friendly fuel producers amid market issues that some may be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding federal government subsidies.
EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has actually launched audits over the previous year, however decreased to identify the companies targeted since the examinations are continuous.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn a multitude of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some materials labeled as utilized cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with logging and other environmental damage.
The problem entered into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that analysts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recovered in the region. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the scams concerns.
The EPA audits started after the agency updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel manufacturers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.
"EPA has actually conducted audits of renewable fuel producers considering that July 2023 which includes, among other things, an evaluation of the locations that utilized cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal agencies ought to be as rigorous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous standards to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is vital that the same examination is used to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal companies.
Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 advised the administration to leave out imported feedstocks like UCO from an additional clean fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)
1
US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used Cooking Oil Supply
danielmcguigan edited this page 6 months ago