By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced investigations into the supply chains of at least two eco-friendly fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry issues that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has introduced audits over the previous year, but to identify the business targeted because the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, 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 used cooking oil are really less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to logging and other ecological damage.

The concern came into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts 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 scams issues.

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

“EPA has actually carried out audits of sustainable fuel producers given that July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an evaluation of the places that utilized cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was collected,” he said. “These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations.”

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

“The Biden administration has developed vigorous requirements to confirm, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential that the same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks,” 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 advised the administration to omit imported feedstocks like UCO from an additional clean fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)