mission-biofuels-sdn.-bhd

1 US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre owned Cooking Oil Supply

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers amidst market concerns that some might be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually launched audits over the previous year, but declined to recognize the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and climate aids, 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 and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The concern entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.

The EPA audits began after the company updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel manufacturers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has actually conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers because July 2023 which includes, amongst other things, an evaluation of the places that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has produced energetic requirements to confirm, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is important that the exact same scrutiny is used 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 omit 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)