By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has launched examinations into the supply chains of at least 2 renewable fuel producers in the middle of industry concerns that some may be utilizing deceitful feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding government subsidies.

EPA spokesperson Jeffrey Landis told Reuters that the company has released audits over the past year, but decreased to determine the companies targeted since the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and climate aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But fears have actually been installing that some materials identified as used cooking oil are in fact more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is associated with deforestation and other ecological damage.

The concern entered into focus following a surge in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia over the last few years that experts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recovered in the area. The European Union is also investigating feedstocks over the scams concerns.

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

"EPA has performed audits of renewable fuel producers considering that July 2023 which consists of, to name a few things, an evaluation of the places that used cooking oil utilized in sustainable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These investigations, nevertheless, are continuous and we are not able to talk about ongoing enforcement investigations."

U.S. senators from farm states have required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal agencies must be as strenuous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has developed energetic standards to verify, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is important that the very same examination is applied to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal agencies.

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