By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released examinations into the supply chains of at least two sustainable fuel manufacturers amidst market issues that some may be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative federal government aids.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has actually introduced audits over the past year, however decreased to determine the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude 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 worries have been mounting that some materials labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with logging and other environmental damage.

The problem entered focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia recently that analysts have stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams issues.

The EPA audits started after the agency 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 renewable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the areas that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are ongoing and we are unable to talk about continuous enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, saying federal firms ought to be as extensive in confirming imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

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

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