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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of two renewable fuel producers in the middle of industry issues that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding federal government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has launched audits over the past year, however declined to determine the business targeted since the investigations are ongoing.

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

The concern entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that experts have stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has performed audits of eco-friendly fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 that includes, among other things, an evaluation of the places that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to discuss ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic requirements to confirm, not simply trust, American producers, and it is vital 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 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 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)