Lawmakers weigh fate of Ariz. environmental agency

Lawmakers on Wednesday began a two-day oversight hearing to recommend whether the Department of Environmental Quality should be reauthorized during the next legislative session beyond the June 30 expiration now set in state law.

The hearing at times put a spotlight on such controversial matters as Arizona's participation in a regional initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and permits for uranium mines in northern Arizona.

With strong business support for keeping the agency alive because the alternative would have the federal government act in its stead, the Legislature is unlikely to kill the agency outright.

However, lawmakers could again give it a short reauthorization and even try to include new mandates or restrictions on the agency's operations.

Sen. Chuck Gray, a Mesa Republican who in January will become Senate majority leader, said the reauthorization should make it clear that Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano needs legislative authorization to commit the state to action on greenhouse gases.

"There's going to have to be some clarification under what parameters we want the agency continued," he said.

Because of legislative concerns, DEQ has never received the full 10-year reauthorization that is typical for most agencies.

Lawmakers are again questioning whether DEQ treats regulated industries fairly and, as in 2005 when the last reauthorization was enacted, whether the agency has exceeded its authority under state law in pushing Napolitano's policy initiatives.

Those include the Western Climate Initiative's planned new cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.