Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst are pressing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over concerns that a surge in imported used cooking oil (UCO) is undermining American farmers and the domestic feedstock industry. Grassley, Ernst, and a bipartisan group of senators criticized the EPA’s verification process for imported oil, calling it “meaningless” following admissions from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that imported UCO is considered “pure” even when mixed with virgin vegetable oils like palm oil. The senators wrote in a letter to the agency, “Without a robust verification process, the credibility of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is at risk, and American farmers are likely missing out on key market opportunities. For example, through August, the U.S. has imported a historic 3.2 billion pounds of UCO in 2024 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is enough product to displace approximately 270 million bushels of soybeans,” The letter, co-signed by Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), demands stronger oversight to protect U.S. producers. The senators’ full letter is included below.
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https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ernst_grassley_et_al_to_epa_-_uco_follow_up.pdf
