By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually released investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel manufacturers in the middle of market issues that some might be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the agency has released audits over the previous year, however declined to identify the business targeted because the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and climate aids, 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 used cooking oil are actually less expensive and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with logging and other environmental damage.

The problem came into focus following a surge in used cooking oil exports from Asia in the last few years that analysts have stated includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the scams concerns.

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

"EPA has actually performed audits of eco-friendly fuel producers considering that July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the locations that utilized cooking oil used in eco-friendly fuel production was collected," he said. "These examinations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually created energetic standards to verify, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is important that the very same scrutiny is used to imported feedstocks," six 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 advised the administration to exclude imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra clean fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)