By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel manufacturers amid industry concerns that some may be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has released audits over the past year, however declined to determine the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

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

The issue entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that experts have said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.

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

"EPA has actually conducted audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers given that July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an examination of the places that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are not able to go over ongoing enforcement examinations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually called for more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal firms ought to be as extensive in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has produced energetic standards to validate, not simply trust, American producers, and it is imperative that the exact same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," 6 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 urged the administration to omit imported feedstocks like UCO from an additional tidy fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)