By Leah Douglas

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

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has launched audits over the past year, however decreased to identify the companies targeted because the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and climate aids, consisting of 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 really cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other environmental damage.

The issue came into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise over the fraud issues.

The EPA audits began after the firm upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel producers seeking to make credits under the RFS, he said.

“EPA has actually carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the places that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected,” he stated. “These examinations, however, are continuous and we are not able to talk about continuous enforcement examinations.”

U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal firms should be as extensive in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

“The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous requirements to validate, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is imperative that the same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks,” six 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 advised the administration to leave out 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)