By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two sustainable fuel manufacturers amidst market concerns that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has actually released audits over the previous year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted since the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some materials identified as utilized cooking oil are really cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The issue entered into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that experts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

“EPA has actually conducted audits of renewable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the places that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was gathered,” he stated. “These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to go over continuous enforcement examinations.”

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

“The Biden administration has actually created vigorous requirements to confirm, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential that the 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 firms.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 advised the administration to exclude 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)