By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually released investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel producers issues that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has actually launched audits over the previous year, but declined to determine the business targeted since the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some products labeled as used cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The problem came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that analysts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the scams concerns.

The EPA audits started after the firm upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for sustainable fuel producers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

“EPA has actually performed audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, among other things, an evaluation of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was gathered,” he stated. “These investigations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations.”

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

“The Biden administration has produced vigorous standards to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is imperative that the very same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks,” six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 prompted the administration to exclude 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)