By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers amidst market concerns that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has introduced audits over the past year, however decreased to recognize the business targeted due to the fact that 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, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some products identified as utilized cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with logging and other ecological damage.

The issue entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits started after the company upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel manufacturers seeking to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.

“EPA has performed audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an assessment of the areas that used cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered,” he stated. “These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to talk about continuous enforcement examinations.”

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

“The Biden administration has created vigorous standards to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is necessary that the very same analysis is used to imported feedstocks,” 6 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 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)