By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually launched examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 eco-friendly fuel manufacturers amid industry concerns that some might be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has released audits over the previous year, but declined to identify the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and environment subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have been mounting that some products identified as used cooking oil are really more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.

The issue came into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that analysts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud .

The EPA audits started after the agency 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 carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel producers given that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was collected,” he said. “These investigations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to talk about ongoing enforcement examinations.“

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

"The Biden administration has actually produced energetic standards to confirm, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is important that the very same examination is applied to imported feedstocks,” 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

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