By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of two renewable fuel manufacturers amid industry concerns that some might be utilizing fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the company has introduced audits over the previous year, however decreased to identify the business targeted since the investigations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude of state and federal environmental and climate subsidies, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been mounting that some materials identified as used cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other ecological damage.

The problem came into focus following a rise in used cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have actually said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has actually carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers given that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an assessment of the places that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are unable to discuss continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually created energetic requirements to verify, not just trust, American producers, and it is vital that the very same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 advised the administration to leave out 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)