Deal reached on speedier permits
0:13 AM 12/20/03
Scott Milfred State government reporter

Gov. Jim Doyle and top lawmakers announced a deal Friday on sweeping changes to Wisconsin's permitting process for business and real estate development. <

The state's big business lobby immediately endorsed the deal, which is expected to be approved by the Legislature next month. <

"It will be easier for Wisconsin businesses to grow and expand and keep jobs here after this bill is passed into law," said Jim Haney, president of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. <

Environmental leaders said the agreement is better than a previous draft but still threatens to harm lakes, rivers and scenic beauty, particularly in northern Wisconsin. People who suffer from asthma in southeastern Wisconsin also could be affected by more air pollution, they warned. <

"There is weakening of current law here," said Caryl Terrell, state director of the Sierra Club. <

The Democratic governor and top Republicans who control the Legislature insisted that's not true. They said the state Department of Natural Resources will merely have to speed up decisions and follow clearer standards. <

"This is going to really open some eyes about how much easier it's going to be to work with state government," said Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo. <

"You've all heard the horror stories people have had about trying to figure out who is actually giving them the answers," Gard continued. "And when they get approved by one party in the Department of Natural Resources, there is someone else in the agency who finds a way to stop them. I think those days are over." <

The Republican leaders dropped many provisions that Doyle had objected to, including automatic approval for permits that the DNR fails to act on within strict timelines. <

But the agreement still applies pressure on the agency to make clear decisions faster, Gard said. <

"We had people who talked about how they couldn't get answers in two years, and I think we're going to hopefully have it within several weeks now," the speaker said, referring to permits for air emissions. <

Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer, R-West Bend, said the bill should pass both houses by mid-January. She said she expects a Senate committee will hold a public hearing on the changes. The Assembly was not planning a hearing. <

The changes should prompt some businesses to expand in or move to Wisconsin almost immediately, Panzer predicted. <

"As the economy turns around, we want Wisconsin to be at the top of its game," she said. "The perception of (business) people has been that Wisconsin doesn't get it. And I hope they now get the message that Wisconsin is going to work with a very different philosophy." <

On Thursday, Doyle had threatened to streamline the permitting process on his own, using executive orders, if legislators couldn't agree on a compromise soon. Republicans countered that Doyle needed their help to get the job done properly through legislation. <

"The agreement we reached today removes the harmful parts of the original bill, while implementing the aggressive regulatory reforms I've called for," Doyle said Friday in a news release. "The agreement is good for both our environment and our economy." <

George Meyer, executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and a former DNR secretary, agreed that some of the worst provisions of the earlier draft are gone. <

He said, for example, that landowners will still need to get individual permits and face potential public hearings if they want to straighten 500 feet of a stream or remove 200 truck loads of a river bed. Meyer also is happy that one objector - not five, as the Republicans wanted - will still be able to trigger a contested case. <

"There's many parts of this law that were horrendous that have been corrected," he said. <

But the bill's standard for defining the bank of a lake and river - a 12 percent grade or 75 feet from the high water mark, whichever is greater - could exempt many projects along waterways from needing permits, Meyer fears. Some 600 projects a year could escape needed state review, he estimated. <

Even though the DNR can adjust it in certain situations, the new standard will increase erosion and destroy more wildlife habitat along water edges, Meyer predicted. <

"A lot of these areas, you could lose some of that natural, scenic beauty," he said. <

In addition, Meyer cautioned that the specific language of Friday's deal hasn't officially been drafted or released to the public yet. He's eager for more details and a public hearing. <

Terrell complained that Doyle and the Republican leaders put together their sweeping deal largely in secret. <

"This is a step backward on the law and on the process," she said. <

Wisconsin has been improving ozone levels in southeast Wisconsin, Terrell said. But the regulatory reform bill announced Friday makes it harder for the state to surpass federal air quality standards, she said. <

Panzer countered that the agreement is based on regulatory reform legislation approved in Minnesota. Wisconsin needs to be competitive with its neighbors to succeed in attracting and retaining businesses and jobs, she said. <

Gard said having clear standards is key. <

"There is not one uniform standard out there right now," he said. "If you put three DNR guys in a room, they're not going to agree." <