Mission NewEnergy Ltd

US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers’ used Cooking Oil Supply

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually released investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers in the middle of market concerns that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has introduced audits over the past year, however declined to determine the business targeted since the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude 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 been mounting that some products labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other ecological damage.

The came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that analysts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud issues.

The EPA audits started after the agency upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel producers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.

“EPA has actually carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel producers given that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was gathered,” he stated. “These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are unable to talk about continuous enforcement investigations.”

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

“The Biden administration has created vigorous standards to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is important that the same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks,” 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

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