By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has released investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 renewable fuel manufacturers in the middle of market issues that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure financially rewarding government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has actually introduced audits over the previous year, but decreased to identify the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a variety 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 fears have been mounting that some products identified as used cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is related to logging and other environmental damage.

The problem entered into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have actually 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 fraud issues.

The EPA audits started after the company updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel producers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has conducted audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an examination of the locations that used cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are unable to discuss ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed vigorous requirements to validate, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is necessary that the exact same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

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