By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of two sustainable fuel manufacturers in the middle of market issues that some might be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding federal government aids.

EPA representative Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually launched audits over the previous year, but declined to recognize the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and climate aids, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some supplies identified as used cooking oil are actually cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The issue came into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have actually said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has actually conducted audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually created energetic requirements to confirm, not just trust, American producers, and it is essential that the very same analysis is used 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 urged the administration to leave out 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)