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 eco-friendly fuel manufacturers amid market concerns that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding federal government subsidies.
EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has released audits over the past year, however decreased to identify the business targeted because the investigations are ongoing.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, 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 fears have actually been installing that some products identified as utilized cooking oil are really more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with logging and other ecological damage.
The problem came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.
The EPA audits started after the agency upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel manufacturers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.
"EPA has actually conducted audits of sustainable fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the locations that used cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal agencies must be as rigorous in confirming imports as they are supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic requirements to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the same examination is used to imported feedstocks," six 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 advised 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)
1
US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used Cooking Oil Supply
Swen Dacomb edited this page 2025-01-12 08:45:12 +08:00