By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually released investigations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel manufacturers amid industry issues that some may be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has launched audits over the past year, but declined to determine the companies targeted because the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude 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 been mounting that some materials labeled as used cooking oil are in fact cheaper and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with logging and other environmental damage.

The concern entered focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have actually stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has performed audits of renewable fuel producers because July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an examination of the places that used cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to talk about continuous enforcement examinations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal companies must be as extensive in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has created energetic standards to confirm, not just trust, American producers, and it is essential that the exact 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 agencies.

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