By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Epa has introduced examinations into the supply chains of a minimum of 2 eco-friendly fuel manufacturers amid industry concerns that some may be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to protect lucrative federal government subsidies.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the agency has launched audits over the past year, however decreased to recognize the business targeted because the investigations are ongoing.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable ingredients, like used cooking oil, can make refiners a multitude of state and federal ecological 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 products labeled as utilized cooking oil are actually more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is connected with logging and other environmental damage.

The issue entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in recent years that analysts have actually said involves unrealistically high volumes relative to the amount of cooking oil utilized and recuperated in the area. The European Union is also examining feedstocks over the fraud concerns.

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

"EPA has conducted audits of sustainable fuel producers because July 2023 that includes, among other things, an evaluation of the places that utilized cooking oil utilized in renewable fuel production was gathered," he said. "These investigations, however, are continuous and we are not able to go over continuous enforcement examinations."

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

"The Biden administration has developed energetic requirements to confirm, not just trust, American manufacturers, and it is crucial that the exact same examination is applied to imported feedstocks," six U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, composed in a June 20 letter to federal firms.

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