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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 eco-friendly fuel manufacturers in the middle of market concerns that some might be utilizing deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has actually released audits over the past year, however declined to identify the companies targeted because the examinations are continuous.

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

The issue entered focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in current years that experts have stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the scams issues.

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

"EPA has carried out audits of renewable fuel manufacturers considering that July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an examination of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are not able to go over continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous standards to verify, not simply trust, American producers, and it is essential that the very same examination is applied 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 advised the administration to exclude imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra clean fuel tax passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)