By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has actually introduced investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 sustainable fuel manufacturers in the middle of industry concerns that some might be using fraudulent feedstocks for biodiesel to protect financially rewarding federal government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has introduced audits over the previous year, however decreased to recognize the companies targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

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

The problem came into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that analysts have stated involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil used and recovered in the region. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the scams concerns.

The EPA audits started after the agency upgraded domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for eco-friendly fuel manufacturers looking for to make credits under the RFS, he stated.

"EPA has actually carried out audits of renewable fuel producers since July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an evaluation of the locations that used cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he stated. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are unable to go over ongoing enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has created energetic requirements to validate, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential 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 agencies.

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