US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre-owned Cooking Oil Supply
By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel producers amidst industry concerns that some might be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative government aids.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has introduced audits over the past year, but declined to determine the business targeted since the examinations 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 been mounting that some supplies labeled as utilized cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to logging and other ecological damage.
The concern came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.
The EPA audits started after the firm upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel manufacturers seeking to make credits under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 which includes, among other things, an assessment of the areas that used cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, however, are ongoing and we are not able to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal companies must be as rigorous in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has developed energetic requirements to verify, not simply trust, American producers, and it is essential 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 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 tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)