By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 renewable fuel manufacturers in the middle of market concerns that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable federal government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has released audits over the previous year, however decreased to determine the companies targeted due to the fact that the investigations are ongoing.

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

The concern entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in current years that analysts have said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has performed audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 which includes, among other things, an assessment of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was collected,” he stated. “These examinations, however, are continuous and we are unable to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations.“

U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal companies ought to be as extensive in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has actually created energetic requirements to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is important that the very same analysis is used to imported feedstocks,” 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 advised the administration to omit imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)