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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Secondhand Cooking Oil Supply

Autumn Valentine edited this page 2025-01-17 18:32:11 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least two eco-friendly fuel in the middle of industry issues that some may be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has released audits over the previous year, but declined to determine the companies targeted since the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude 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 been installing that some products identified as utilized cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The issue entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has actually conducted audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the places that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was collected," he said. "These examinations, however, are ongoing and we are not able to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies need to be as strenuous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic requirements to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is necessary that the very same analysis 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 leave out 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)