By Leah Douglas
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has introduced examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers amid market issues that some may be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding federal government subsidies.
EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually released audits over the past year, but declined to identify the business targeted since the investigations are continuous.
The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and environment subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been installing that some materials labeled as utilized cooking oil are in fact less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with deforestation and other environmental damage.
The concern entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have actually said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the .
The EPA audits began after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel producers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he stated.
"EPA has carried out audits of renewable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an assessment of the places that utilized cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, 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 should be as strenuous in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.
"The Biden administration has produced vigorous standards to validate, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is vital that the exact same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," six 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 advised the administration to exclude 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)
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US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre-owned Cooking Oil Supply
Gilbert Banvard edited this page 2025-01-16 18:22:06 +08:00