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 manufacturers in the middle of industry issues that some might be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable federal government aids.
EPA representative Jeffrey Reuters that the firm has actually released audits over the past year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and environment aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been installing that some materials identified as utilized cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.
The problem entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that analysts have stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the fraud issues.
The EPA audits began after the company 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 actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers because July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the places that used cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to go over continuous enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal agencies need to be as rigorous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has developed vigorous standards to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the very 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 prompted the administration to exclude 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)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre-owned Cooking Oil Supply
Tera Bagley edited this page 2025-01-13 06:22:26 +00:00