Mike Michaud represents Maine's Second District in the United States House of Representatives. This is a guest op-ed and the views expressed below are not necessarily endorsed by the Exception Magazine.

When federal agencies issue regulations they go through a lengthy process of collecting public comments and studying how to implement them properly. Many times they get it right, but they recently got it wrong on a regulation that will have a significant impact on Maine’s economy.

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published four interrelated rules setting new standards for more than 200,000 boilers, process heaters, and incinerators. The rules apply across the entire U.S. economy and affect manufacturing and industrial facilities, commercial buildings and facilities, colleges and universities, hospitals and medical centers, hotels and apartment buildings, and city buildings and municipal facilities. The new rules impact everything from the emissions of the boilers to the materials used to fuel them.

The idea behind the rules is to cut down on pollutants, which is mandated by the Clean Air Act and something that I strongly support. But as is the case with bills in Congress, when it comes to regulations and their impact, the devil truly is in the details.

Unfortunately, some of these new regulations would adversely impact Maine’s biomass and paper industries. One in particular would have required companies such as Maine’s paper mills to burn oil, gas or coal instead of natural materials such as biomass (a byproduct of the papermaking process) in their boilers. This would not only have been a negative for the environment, but it would have dramatically increased costs to these businesses at a time they can least afford it. These biomass boilers shouldn’t be regulated the same way as incinerators that burn waste, and it’s why I’ve pushed so hard for the EPA to change its rule.

Thankfully, on October 14th, the Obama Administration responded to my request to address these concerns by clarifying that biomass is categorized as a fuel and not solid waste. This revision will ensure that this renewable resource continues to be a viable fuel for the paper industry. As a result, this action will help our paper companies and other impacted industries avoid layoffs, cost increases, and the need to turn to fossil fuels.

This move by the Administration responded to one of a number of concerns my colleagues and I have raised over the months. And it made common sense. The EPA recognized that their one size-fits-all regulatory approach was flawed on this issue and they corrected it. It’s welcome news for the environment and the economy. It will ensure that federal regulations don’t unnecessarily stifle the adoption of renewable biomass, which has been an economic boon for our state over the last few years.

But the effort to improve other aspects of the regulations EPA recently issued isn’t over yet. In addition to the fuel vs. waste issue, the new rules also seek to limit emissions of boilers like the ones used at our paper mills. Despite the fact that the EPA has acknowledged that they needed more time to get an accurate rule written, they were forced to move forward with it by the courts.

As such, in an effort to make sure that the standards on emissions are based on solid data and that they accomplish their clean air goals without jeopardizing Maine jobs, I joined with my colleagues to cosponsor and help pass the “EPA Regulatory Relief Act” in the House. This bill would, in addition to addressing the fuel issue, realistically and accurately set emission standards for biomass boilers.