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 issues that some might be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable federal government subsidies.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has released audits over the past year, but decreased to recognize the business targeted since the investigations are continuous.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and climate subsidies, consisting of 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 less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to logging and other environmental damage.
The problem entered into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in current years that experts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.
The EPA audits started after the company updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel producers seeking to make credits under the RFS, he said.
"EPA has performed audits of renewable fuel producers considering that July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an examination of the places that used cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are unable to go over continuous enforcement investigations."
U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal firms should be as strenuous in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has actually created energetic standards to confirm, not just trust, American producers, and it is necessary that the same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal firms.
Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 prompted the administration to omit imported 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)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' used Cooking Oil Supply
Kay Bunning edited this page 2025-01-18 16:38:28 +08:00