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 in the middle of industry concerns that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect rewarding government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the firm has actually released audits over the previous year, however decreased to identify the business targeted since the examinations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal environmental and environment subsidies, consisting of tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have been installing that some supplies identified as utilized cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, a product that is associated with logging and other environmental damage.

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

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

"EPA has carried out audits of sustainable fuel manufacturers since July 2023 which consists of, amongst other things, an assessment of the areas that utilized cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was collected," he said. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are unable to talk about continuous enforcement investigations."

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

"The Biden administration has actually developed energetic standards to verify, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is necessary that the very same examination is applied 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 advised the administration to leave out 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)