By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 eco-friendly fuel producers in the middle of industry concerns that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative federal government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually released audits over the past year, but decreased to recognize the companies targeted because the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal environmental and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some materials labeled as utilized cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The issue entered focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud issues.

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

"EPA has carried out audits of eco-friendly fuel producers considering that July 2023 which includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are not able to go over continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed energetic standards to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is important that the very same examination 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 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)