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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers amid market issues that some might be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect profitable government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has released audits over the previous year, but decreased to determine the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety of state and federal ecological and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been mounting that some supplies labeled as used cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The concern entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that analysts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recuperated in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has conducted audits of eco-friendly fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are not able to talk about ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has created vigorous standards to validate, not just trust, American producers, and it is necessary that the same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

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