By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually released investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers amidst market issues that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has actually introduced audits over the previous year, however decreased to determine the business targeted since the examinations are continuous.

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

The problem entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have stated 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 concerns.

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

"EPA has carried out audits of sustainable fuel producers given that July 2023 that includes, among other things, an examination of the places that used cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are unable to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic requirements to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is vital that the exact same examination is applied to imported feedstocks," six 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 advised the administration to leave out 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)