By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released investigations into the supply chains of at least 2 eco-friendly fuel producers in the middle of industry concerns that some may be using deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure lucrative federal government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has launched audits over the past year, but decreased to determine the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable active ingredients, like used cooking oil, can earn refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and environment aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been installing that some products labeled as used cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is connected with deforestation and other environmental damage.

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

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

"EPA has performed audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 which consists of, among other things, an examination of the locations that utilized cooking oil utilized in eco-friendly fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, however, are ongoing and we are unable to go over continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually created energetic requirements to verify, not simply trust, American producers, and it is essential that the very same scrutiny is used 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 omit 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)