mission-newenergy-limited

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry concerns that some may be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually introduced audits over the past year, however to recognize the companies targeted because 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 ecological and climate aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some supplies labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.

The problem came into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

The EPA audits began after the firm updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel manufacturers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has actually performed audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, among other things, an examination of the places that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to go over continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has created energetic standards to confirm, not just trust, American producers, and it is imperative that the exact same examination is used to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged the administration to leave out 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)