By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually released investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two sustainable fuel producers in the middle of industry issues that some might be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding government aids.

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

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and environment subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been installing that some products identified as used cooking oil are really more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The problem came into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has actually carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers since July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an examination of the locations that used cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal firms should be as strenuous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic requirements to verify, not simply trust, American producers, and it is vital that the very same analysis is applied 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 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)