By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel producers amid industry issues that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually released audits over the past year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety 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 used cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to logging and other ecological damage.

The concern entered into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits started 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 actually conducted audits of renewable fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was collected,” he stated. “These investigations, however, are continuous and we are not able to discuss continuous enforcement examinations.“

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous standards to confirm, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is important that the exact same examination is used to imported feedstocks,” 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged 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 Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)