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By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two renewable fuel producers amidst industry concerns that some might be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative federal government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has actually introduced audits over the previous year, however decreased to identify the companies targeted because the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like utilized cooking oil, can earn refiners a multitude of state and federal ecological and climate subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some products identified as used cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.

The issue entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that experts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recovered in the region. The European Union is likewise investigating feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has carried out audits of renewable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, amongst other things, an evaluation of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to discuss continuous enforcement examinations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal agencies need to be as rigorous in validating imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has actually developed vigorous requirements to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential that the same analysis is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 urged the administration to exclude 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)